Level of habitual physical activity in children and adolescents from the Region of Murcia (Spain).

Guillermo Felipe López Sánchez,Arturo Díaz Suárez,Sixto González Víllora

doi:10.1186/s40064-016-2033-8

Guillermo Felipe López Sánchez, Arturo Díaz Suárez + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40064-016-2033-8

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Abstract

The level of physical activity of people is a very important issue internationally. The aim of this study was to analyze the level of habitual physical activity in children and adolescents from the Region of Murcia (Spain). With this purpose, the questionnaire Physician-based Assessment and Counseling for Exercise (PACE) was administered to 1055 children and adolescents (532 males and 523 females), aged between 3 and 18 years. The results showed that the sample studied does not do enough physical activity, according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, as they do at least 60 min of physical activity only an average of 3.29 days/week (SD = 1.84). Besides, 77 % of the schoolchildren studied is inactive according to the classification of PACE questionnaire. According to sex, there are more active boys (31.2 %) than active girls (14.9 %) and, on average, boys do more physical activity than girls, almost a day more per week.

Highlights

Promoting physical activity and sports has become one of the most important goals of schools in most of the developed countries, due to the large number of sedentary lifestyle among people
The purpose of this study is to analyze the current level of habitual physical activity in children and adolescents from the Region of Murcia (Spain), by age and gender, paying particular attention to the percentage of active and inactive schoolchildren, and to the average number of days in which schoolchildren perform the level of physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization
Physician-based Assessment and Counseling for Exercise (PACE) questionnaire presents a test–retest reliability assessed by the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) of 0.77

Summary

Introduction

Promoting physical activity and sports has become one of the most important goals of schools in most of the developed countries, due to the large number of sedentary lifestyle among people. Society understands that physical exercise and sport have a very important role in the preservation and development of health in humans and. Beneficial contributions of physical activity and sport, performed under certain parameters of frequency, intensity and duration, are universally known. For this reason, physical activity is related to a healthy lifestyle (Vílchez-Barroso 2007). Physical activity is very beneficial in people with special needs, such as individuals with

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