Levels of Physical Activity of Urban Adolescents According to Age and Gender

The aim of this study is to examine the patterns of physical activity of adolescents, according to age and gender. The sample includes 877, twelve, fifteen and eighteen year’s old adolescents (436 boys, 441 girls) from Metropolitan Lisbon Area. Physical activity was assessed by five items 4-point scale: frequency of physical activity participation per week, participation in organized physical activity, participation in unorganized physical activity, intensity, and participation in competitions. To express the activity levels of the adolescents an index of physical activity was computed by summing these five items range from 5 to 20 points. The mean index of the participants was 15.15±5.15. The boys showed higher values than the girls. It was interesting to observe that the lowest value for the boys, at 18 years of age (14.65±5.70), was higher than the highest value for the girls at 12 years of age (14.10±4.60). With the increase of age, a decrease of the amount of physical activity is evident which indicates a reduction in the general levels of participation physical activity. Although the decrease was registered, for the girls from 12 to 15 years old it was very slight, being the largest break from 15 to 18 years old. The amount of teenagers classified as sedentary increases throughout their adolescence. The global consideration of these facts is worrying because from a scientific point of view, the value of physical activity for health if unquestionable.