Influência de fatores sociodemográficos e econômicos na prática de atividade física entre estudantes universitários : um estudo longitudinal

Abstract

Introduction: Physical inactivity is among the main risk factors for death in the world and contributes to increase the occurrence of chronic non-communicable diseases. University students may be considered vulnerable to the adoption of unhealthy behaviors, including physical inactivity, due to the inherent biological and psychological changes of the late adolescence, as well as changes due to university admission characterized by a new environment in which the individual is exposed to new behaviors and social contacts. However, there are few studies on changes in physical activity practice at this stage of life, as well as the factors associated with these changes. Objective: to analyze the influence of sociodemographic and economic factors on the variation of the weekly time dedicated to the practice of physical activity among university students after the first academic year of the superior course. Methods: A longitudinal study was carried out with 21 full-time students at a public university in Mato Grosso, evaluated in the first semester of 2015 and after one year in 2016. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire and physical activity practice was evaluated in minutes per week, using the International Physical Activity Questionnaires, short version. The dependent variable considered in this study was the variation of moderate and vigorous physical activity practice in minutes per week between the two periods. For the statistical analyzes, the value obtained was classified in tertile. The independent variables analyzed were gender, age, race / color of the skin, economic class, with whom they live and area of the university course. The Mann Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon paired tests were applied in the bivariate analysis. Multinomial Regression models were used to verify the association of the variation of the activity practice in tertile with the independent variables. Only the variables that showed significance at the 5% level were maintained in the model. Results: A total of 348 students were evaluated, 51.4% were males and approximately 50% were between 18 and 19 years of age and belonged to economy class B. A decrease in physical activity was observed in the first year of the course (median = 90.0 minutes per week), the first tertile of the distribution was composed of individuals who presented decrease ranging from -2820.0 to -350.0 minutes per week. The third tertile presented values between 0.0 and 2760 minutes per week, that is, students who maintained or increased the practice of physical activity during the first year. After analysis of the multinomial regression, considering the third tertile of variation as reference, the economic classes C / D / E and associated with the first tertile were maintained, and belonging to these categories represented almost 3 times more chance of belonging to the first tertile of distribution. Conclusions: There was a decrease in the practice of physical activity, mainly among the students belonging to the lower income class and living in the republic. Thus, it is necessary to implement incentives to stimulate the practice of physical activity among university students, considering the influence of these barriers.