Abstract
Background: Insufficient physical activity (PA) and excessive sedentary behavior (SB) are the main contributors to adolescent obesity. However, it is uncertain whether recent economic growth and urbanization in Ecuador are contributing to an obesogenic environment. This study assessed the relationships among fitness, PA, SB, and perceived social support for PA in adolescents from urban (Quito) and rural (Loja) Ecuador. Methods: Fitness was estimated using 3-min step test and PA and SB participation and social support for PA were self-reported in 407 adolescents. T-tests and analysis of variance assessed differences by sex, obesity status, and region of Ecuador. Pearson correlations assessed relationships among PA, SB, fitness, and social support. Results: Males and rural adolescents (48.3 ± 9.4 and 47.1 ± 9.6 mL/kg/min) were more fit than females and urban adolescents (41.1 ± 7.5 and 39.7 ± 6.1 mL/kg/min). Fitness was negatively correlated with obesity only in rural Ecuador. Few adolescents reported ≥60 min/day of PA (8.4%) or ≤2 h/day of SB (30.2%), with greater SB participation in rural Ecuador. Weak correlations were observed among fitness, PA, SB, and parental/peer support for PA (r = −0.18 to 0.19; p < 0.05). Conclusion: While fitness varied by sex, weight status, and region, SB participation and parent/peer support for PA, not PA participation itself, predicted fitness in rural Ecuadorean adolescents.
Highlights
Childhood obesity continues to be a growing global problem, rising tenfold in the past four decades with more than 124 million youth (5–19 years) classified as obese in 2016 according to theWorld Health Organization [1]
Ecuador is a country that has undergone rapid economic growth over the past decade, with two-thirds of the population moving from rural, agrarian settings to more urban, nonagricultural cities [5]
Between March and July 2015, a cross-sectional assessment of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) participation, physical fitness, weight status, and perceived social support for PA was conducted on adolescents from two locations within the Sierra region of Ecuador
Summary
Childhood obesity continues to be a growing global problem, rising tenfold in the past four decades with more than 124 million youth (5–19 years) classified as obese in 2016 according to theWorld Health Organization [1]. Ecuador is a country that has undergone rapid economic growth over the past decade, with two-thirds of the population moving from rural, agrarian settings to more urban, nonagricultural cities [5]. Scores compared to their rural counterparts [6] From this environmental shift and rising SES, excessive growth patterns have emerged in the Ecuadorean population [5]. Insufficient physical activity (PA) and excessive sedentary behavior (SB) are the main contributors to adolescent obesity. It is uncertain whether recent economic growth and urbanization in Ecuador are contributing to an obesogenic environment. This study assessed the relationships among fitness, PA, SB, and perceived social support for PA in adolescents from urban (Quito) and rural (Loja) Ecuador.
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