Trends of low physical activity among Iranian adolescents across urban and rural areas during 2006\u20132011

Parisa Amiri,Farzad Hadaegh,Fereidoun Azizi,Davood Khalili,Najmeh Hamzavi-Zarghani,Sara Jalali-Farahani,Yadollah Mehrabi,Parisa Naseri,Golnaz Vahedi-Notash

doi:10.1038/s41598-020-78048-0

Abstract

It is well documented that physical inactivity is related to weight gain and a whole host of chronic diseases. This study investigated trends of low physical activity among Iranian adolescents in urban and rural areas between 2006–2011. A total of 12,178 adolescents, aged between 15 and 19 years, participated in National Surveys of Risk Factors for Non-Communicable Diseases. Data on physical activity was obtained using the global physical activity questionnaire. A complex sample survey and multinomial logistic regression were used to model physical activity levels. The percentage of adolescents who had low levels of physical activity increased from 2006 to 2011 in both urban and rural areas. Low and moderate levels of physical activity were lower in rural girls as compared with urban girls, with a prevalence ratio of 0.59 (95% CI 0.47–0.74) and 0.59 (95% CI 0.47–0.74), respectively. The corresponding values for boys residing in rural areas compared with boys in urban areas were 0.56 (95% CI 0.43–0.75) and 0.60 (95% CI 0.48–0.74), respectively. The adolescents' lifestyles showed an increasing trend for physical inactivity in both genders; however, in rural areas, only girls had a rising affinity for a sedentary lifestyle throughout the 2006–2011 years.

Highlights

It is well documented that physical inactivity is related to weight gain and a whole host of chronic diseases
There is a whole host of evidence to demonstrate that insufficient physical exercise in youth can be a crucial indicator of an unhealthy lifestyle, as well as weight disorders, which can lead to major chronic diseases such as diabetes type 2, cardiovascular diseases and c ancers[9,10,11,12]
This study was conducted within the framework of the national Surveillance of Risk Factors of Non-Communicable Diseases (SuRFNCD) conducted through 2006–2011; this was based on the World Health Organization (WHO) STEP-wise approach to Surveillance (STEPS) for WHO member countries as a simple, standardized method for collecting, analyzing and disseminating data

Summary

Introduction

It is well documented that physical inactivity is related to weight gain and a whole host of chronic diseases. The percentage of adolescents who had low levels of physical activity increased from 2006 to 2011 in both urban and rural areas. Low and moderate levels of physical activity were lower in rural girls as compared with urban girls, with a prevalence ratio of 0.59 (95% CI 0.47–0.74) and 0.59 (95% CI 0.47–0.74), respectively. The adolescents’ lifestyles showed an increasing trend for physical inactivity in both genders; in rural areas, only girls had a rising affinity for a sedentary lifestyle throughout the 2006–2011 years. The association between low physical activity and excessive weight gain in the early years of life has been well d ocumented[14,15], further solid evidence has complicated matters by disclosing that even underweight children do not meet desirable levels of physical activity[16,17,18]. Findings from a study evaluating adolescents’ physical activity in the United States showed that both underweight and overweight teens had low levels of physical a ctivity[16]

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Methods

Results

Conclusion