Investigation of Physical Activity Levels in Adolescents

Investigation of Physical Activity Levels in Adolescents

Büsra Emlek ¹ , Hakan Yapici^1* , Sinan Ayan¹ , Dondu Ugurlu¹ , Orhan Gok² , Abdullah Yılmaz³ , Alper Sokmen¹ , Nuri Sofi¹ , Ali Ahmet Dogan¹

¹Faculty of Sport Sciences, Kirikkale University, Kirikkale, Turkey;

²Faculty of Sport Sciences, Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Osmaniye, Turkey;

³Department of Actuarial Science, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Kirikkale University, Kirikkale, Türkiye

ABSTRACT

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the physical activity levels of adolescents.

Methods: A total of 1279 secondary school students, 678 female and 601 male, aged between 10-12 years, studying in Kirikkale province, constitute the research group. The questionnaire method was used to collect data. The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) was used to collect data. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25.0 software. The means of gender, anthropometric characteristics, and physical activity levels were calculated, and group comparisons were performed by an independent sample t-test. The ANOVA test was used to determine the difference between group means.

Result: When anthropometric measurements and physical activity levels were analyzed, there were significant differences between female and male in height and body weight values, while in-school, out-of-school, and total physical activity levels were higher in male than in female.

Conclusions: It was concluded that the physical activity levels of male adolescents were higher than those of female adolescents, it is thought that increasing physical activity opportunities for adolescents and encouraging practices may be beneficial in this regard.