Descriptive Epidemiology of Uruguayan Adults’ Leisure Time Physical Activity

Abstract

Policymakers rely on information for describing and monitoring levels of physical activity among the population. However, in Uruguay there is no research presenting physical activity practices nationwide. The present study aims to describe the leisure time physical activity levels and their unequal distribution among Uruguayan adults. Data from the 2014 Uruguayan National Health Survey (n = 3543 adults aged > 15 years) were analysed. Physical activity was measured by questionnaire, with participants reporting the number of days and time spent doing physical activity during leisure time in a typical week. Only 25.1% of the participants met the international recommendations for physical activity. Males were twice as active as females in early adulthood in terms of time. The absolute socioeconomic gap between the poorest and wealthiest income quintiles was around 20 percentage points, and participants with the highest physical activity levels were within the wealthiest and highest-educational levels. A low proportion of the population met the proxy of the international recommendations for physical activity. Important socioeconomic inequalities have been found in physical activity practices and must be considered in public health interventions.

Gender differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior: Results from over 200,000 Latin-American children and adolescents

“…Azevedo et al (2007) [ 4 ] studied differences in leisure time PA in the Brazilian population and found that men had higher levels of PA than women. In Uruguay, young male adults were more than twice as likely to meet PA guidelines (72.8%) in comparison with young female adults (27.2%) [ 5 ]. Moreover, Colombian males were found more active than their female counterparts, and socioeconomic status was identified as an important factor to explain the observed inequalities [ 6 ].…”

All are equal, but some are more equal than others: social determinants of leisure time physical activity through the lens of intersectionality

“…Previous studies that investigated 'independent effects' of gender and social inequalities in leisure time physical activity used multivariate regression models with mutual adjustment for other factors [3,20,33]. While this approach has provided important insights, they fail to consider the social complexities societies and the connections between macro-level structures of power on the creation, maintenance and reproduction of social inequalities at lower level analyses [34].…”

Desigualdades na prática esportiva e de atividade física nas macrorregiões do Brasil: PNAD, 2015

“…Por outro lado, estudos individualizados de países como Colômbia e Uruguai evidenciaram importantes desigualdades. No Uruguai, além das desigualdades de gênero, indivíduos pertencentes aos grupos de maior nível socioeconômico apresentaram prevalência de atividade física no lazer 20 pontos percentuais maiores que seus grupos de comparação 16 . Na Colômbia, dados da pesquisa nacional, realizada em 2010, identificaram que a prevalência de atividade física de lazer entre as mulheres de baixo nível econômico foi 7,4%, enquanto entre as mais ricas foi 16,6%, desigualdades também encontradas entre os homens (22,2% entre os homens de maior nível socioeconômico e 31,8% entre os mais ricos) 17 .…”