Characteristics of Physical Activity Among Healthy Serbian Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Physical activity (PA) remains the most important modifiable risk factor in the prevention of chronic diseases that are major killers in the modern era. However, many young people today do not meet the recommended guidelines on PA. Few studies were found on the levels of physical activity among adolescents from transitional countries. Objective: To determine the levels of physical activity in a representative sample of healthy adolescents from Pančevo (Serbia), and the factors that determine these level. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 401 randomly selected adolescents (191 boys and 210 girls) from the city of Pančevo, Serbia. The long version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), validated for Serbia, was applied. PA was expressed as metabolic equivalent-minute per week (MET-min/week) and classified as low, moderate, or high. Results: The median PA for the whole sample was 2049.18 MET-min/week. The average PA score in boys was higher (2680 MET-min/week) than in girls (1479 MET-min/week). The prevalence of respondents with inadequate PA was 53.9%, and was higher in girls than in boys. Boys showed the higher values for intense and moderate PA, while the prevalent type of PA among girls was walking. Level of PA did not depend on the adolescent's nutritional status. The most important predictors of PA among the participants were sex, father's PA, and hours spent on sedentary activities like using a computer and watching television. Conclusion: Adolescents in Pančevo do not practice enough physical activity, especially girls. Better strategies are needed, to increase levels of PA, considering the main predictors in the adolescent population. Level of Evidence II; Retrospective study.

Social and Educational Sustainability of the Physical Education of Romanian Students and the Impact on Their Physical Activity Level

“…Recent studies showed there was a descending trend concerning PA levels among youth and children, but also differences between males and females; more than half of the subjects recorded a low level of the physical activities [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

“…IPAQ is generally considered as a reliable and valid tool to assess the level of PA. Previous studies showed that the number of youth with a low level of PA had increased [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], but there is a lack of information concerning Romanian youth/students. For this reason, it is essential to determine the social and educational sustainability of the PE by using IPAQ in order to assess their level of PA. One way to improve or solve this issue is to involve the students in the assessment process, and maybe, they will become more conscious concerning the importance of the PA in daily life.…”

The Translation and Cross-Cultural Adaptation of the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire: Validity and Reliability of a Serbian Version (PPAQ-SRB)

“…ICCs in the Serbian version of the questionnaire ranged from 0.53 to 0.91, and we used it in this research [ 31 ]. The IPAQ-LF was also validated in the population of Serbian adolescents [ 32 ].…”

The perception on physical activity among students

“…For good health and quality of life, the recommendation is to engage in various types of physical activities for at least 150 minutes per week with moderate and vigorous intensity [3,4]. In recent years, many studies have revealed a low level of physical activity among youth and children, with more than half of the subjects recording insufficient physical activity [5,6,7,8,9]. Additionally, two meta-studies (involving over 3 million participants) present a concerning situation regarding adolescents and youths, with over 80% of respondents being insufficiently physically active [10,11].…”