Abstract
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/1980-0037.2017v19n4p493 The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of stages of behavior change (SBC) for physical activity and to verify the associated demographic and economic factors, in adolescents from the Amazon. A total of 2,517 adolescents (aged 14-19 years) from public high schools participated of the study. SBC for physical activity, demographic (sex, age, school year, school shift and residence area) and economic factors (occupational status, family income and maternal schooling) were investigated. The associations between SBC and independent variables were tested by multinomial logistic regression. Most adolescents were in the maintenance stage (40.8%) and the minority was in pre-contemplation stage (9.0%). Female adolescents were more likely of being in the action (OR=1.44; CI95%=1.14-1.81), preparation (OR=2.71; CI95%=2.14-3.44), contemplation (OR=2.89; CI95%=2.25-3.69) and pre-contemplation (OR=2.91;CI 95%=2.16-4.00) stages compared to male adolescents. Adolescents aged 16-17 years were less likely of being in the action stage (OR=0.71; CI95%=0.53-0.94) and those aged 18-19 years were more likely of being in the preparation stage (OR=1.50; CI95%=1.04-2.16) compared to those aged 14-15 years. Family income of six minimum wages or more was associated to higher chances of being in the action (OR=2.09; CI95%=1.38-3.17), preparation (OR=2.02; CI95%=1.31- 3.12) and contemplation (OR=1.87; IC95%=1.18-2.95) stages. Adolescents who worked were less likely of being in the pre-contemplation stage (OR=0.45; CI95%=0.27-0.74), compared to those who do not work. Most of adolescents were in the maintenance stage for physical activity. The factors associated to SBC were female sex, age groups of 16-17 years and 18-19 years, income of six minimum wages or more and work.
Highlights
The behavior of adolescents in relation to physical activity (PA) has been the target of several studies in recent years, which have emphasized the direction of strategies so that the regular practice of PA is incorporated into the daily life of young individuals[1,2,3,4]
Associations were observed among stages of behavior change (SBC) with age group (p = 0.025) and occupational status (p
Divergent results were found in a survey with Belgian[15] and US adolescents[17], since most of them were in the maintenance stage; the action stage was the least frequent
Summary
The behavior of adolescents in relation to physical activity (PA) has been the target of several studies in recent years, which have emphasized the direction of strategies so that the regular practice of PA is incorporated into the daily life of young individuals[1,2,3,4]. A large part of this population (around 80.0%) does not reach these recommendations, which makes insufficient PA a global public health problem[6] In this context, identifying the behavior change intention in adolescence and those who do not intend to practice PA can be useful for the elaboration of strategies directed to groups that need more urgent interventions[7,8]. In this premise, the Stages of Behavior Change - SBC (pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance) have been considered one of the theoretical models that best characterize people’s behavior on health-related habits, including PA8, allowing to identify the current conditions and the intention to change behaviors in a certain space of time[9]. SBC has often been used to classify the level of PA from the grouping of pre-contemplation, contemplation and preparation stages to classify individuals as insufficiently active, and action and maintenance stages to classify individuals as physically active, differing from the initial proposal of the theoretical model[7]
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