The association between practicing sport and non-sport physical activities and health-related quality of life of Brazilian adolescents: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Summary Objectives To analyse the relationship between the total volume of physical activity (PA) and the practice of different types of PA with Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in Brazilian boys and girls. Equipment and methods Adolescents in 7th to 9th grades from six schools answered a questionnaire concerning the activities that they engage in during a typical week, including sport-related (e.g.: soccer) and non-sport-related (e.g.: walking) PAs. The frequency and duration of these activities were recorded, the volume of PA was calculated and the respondents were classified as fully active (engaged in both sport and non-sport PA), sport-active (engaged only in sport but not in non-sport PA), non-sport-active (engage only in non-sport PA), and non-active (did not engage in any type of PA regularly) using three cut-offs of volume: 30, 60, and 90 min/week. Students answered the KIDSCREEN 27, which measures five dimensions of HRQoL (physical well-being, psychological well-being, parent relations & autonomy, social support & peers and school environment). Multilevel linear regression analyses were used to test the association between PA and each dimension of HRQoL. Results Data of 861 adolescents (13.1 ± 1.1 years old, 52% girls) were included. A positive association was found between volume of PA and HRQoL. Being in the fully active category proved to be associated with increased scores in all dimensions across all models in boys and with physical well-being in girls, compared to the non-active category. Being in the sport active category was associated with four dimensions in boys, but only with physical well-being in girls. In conclusion, practicing PA is positively associated with HRQoL indicators, sports were related with increased HRQoL especially in boys, whereas additional non-sport related PA seems necessary for girls.