The level of physical activity and the sitting time of the students Chilean and its relationship with socioeconomic factors

Abstract

Objective: To determine the level of physical activity (PA) and sitting time that students from an institute of higher technical education present and its relationship with the socioeconomic level (SES) of the participants.

Methodology: 316 Chilean students from different careers of the IPG / Concepción Professional Institute participated in the study. A questionnaire with closed questions was used for the sociodemographic variables, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short format to identify the amount of physical activity and intensity, and the ESOMAR questionnaire to define the SES of the students.

Results: It was observed that the levels of PA were of moderate and high intensity for 56% of the participants (n = 177), who belong to the medium SES. No relationship between sitting time and gender was observed, however, the prevalence of men (31.4%) who sat more than 4 hours a day was lower compared to women (48.4%). Men presented higher MET-minutes / week values ??than women and higher frequency in high intensity PA, while women presented higher frequency for moderate PA. Finally, no association between sitting hours and socioeconomic level was identified.

Conclusion: The students presented a PA level between moderate and high, however, a worrying prevalence of those who remain seated for longer than recommended was observed, mainly in those with medium and low SES