The reasons why athletes, especially young people, seek to adhere to sports practice has aroused the interest of research. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons for the sports practice of young soccer and volleyball athletes according to gender, age, family economic class, practice time and level of competitiveness. 188 athletes, 56 volleyball athletes and 132 soccer players aged 10-16 participated in the study. The reasons for the sport were identified through the Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ). The data were analyzed through Covariance Analysis. The results indicated that, in general, the most important reason for sports practice was “Technical Competence” (4.51±0.54), followed by factors of intermediate importance: “Competition” (4.30±0.73), “Group Activity” (4.29±0.71) and “Physical Fitness” (4.25±0.64). Low-income families (C) attributed greater importance to the motivation factors related to “Social Recognition” and “Group Activity”. Athletes with lower practice time conceded less relevance to “Group Activity” and “Affiliation”, while those with a national competitive level demonstrated greater importance to all motivation factors, with the exception of “Competition.” Young athletes have been motivated to practice sports, especially for reasons related to self-realization, improvement of technical skills and overcoming challenges. Differences were also identified between family economic class groups, practice time and competitive level in the motivation factors for sports practice.

The present study objectively measured the pattern of sedentary behavior among schoolchildren from a city in southern Brazil. A probabilistic sample composed of 394 adolescents was selected from ten public schools in the city of Londrina/PR. The cut-point of 720 counts.min -1 for the vector magnitude from the ActiGraph accelerometer was used to estimate the total sedentary time, bouts (1-4 min, 5-9 min, 10-14 min, 15-29 min, and ≥ 30 min), and breaks during the week, on weekdays and at weekends, as well as at school and out of school. Adolescents spent about 10 hours per day in sedentary behavior. Total sedentary time in bouts was 50% (278 from 535 minutes) in short bouts. Adolescents demonstrated greater time in shorter bouts (< 10 minutes) within the school period and longer time in extended bouts (≥ 15 minutes) outside school (p < 0.05). Sex and socioeconomic status had no effect on sedentary time regarding bouts and number of breaks. Thus, Brazilian adolescents present high levels of sedentary time, especially during time outside school.

Purpose: To investigate the association between patterns of sedentary behavior and obesity indicators among adolescents. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 389 adolescents (186 boys) aged 10–14 years. Body mass index, body fat (skinfolds), and waist circumference were adopted as outcomes. Sedentary behavior patterns (total time, bouts, and breaks) measured through accelerometry (GT3X and GT3X+; ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL) were adopted as exposures. Peak height velocity, moderate to vigorous physical activity (accelerometer), cardiorespiratory fitness (Léger test), sex, and chronological age were adopted as covariates. Linear regression models adjusted for covariates were used to determine associations between outcome and exposure variables. Results: The mean age of adolescents was 11.8 (0.7) years. Boys were more active than girls (P < .001). Accumulating shorter bouts (1–4 min) of sedentary behavior was negatively associated with body mass index (β = −0.050; 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.098 to −0.003) and waist circumference (β = −0.133; 95% CI, −0.237 to −0.028). Similarly, a higher number of breaks in sedentary behavior were negatively associated with body mass index (β = −0.160; 95% CI, −0.319 to −0.001) and waist circumference (β = −0.412; 95% CI, −0.761 to −0.064). Conclusion: Shorter bouts of sedentary behavior (1–4 min) and a higher number of breaks of sedentary behavior were associated with lower adiposity. Our findings also suggest that breaking up sedentary time to ensure bouts of sedentary behavior are short might contribute to the prevention of obesity in adolescents.

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