The role of the socio-ecological factors on children's and adolescents' physical activity: results of the LIITU study

Background From the perspective of the health promotion, it is important to identify those children and adolescents who are not reaching the recommendations of physical activity (PA), because active lifestyle is adopted in... [ view full abstract ]

Background

From the perspective of the health promotion, it is important to identify those children and adolescents who are not reaching the recommendations of physical activity (PA), because active lifestyle is adopted in the early childhood. The objective of this study was to examine and compare correlates of reaching and not reaching PA recommendations in a nationally representative sample of 11-, 13-, and 15-year-old children and adolescents.

Methods

Participation in moderate-to vigorous-intensity daily physical activity (MVPA) was measured by asking, “During the past 7 days, on how many days were you physically active for a total of at least 60 minutes per day?”. MVPA was coded to four categories: 7 days as regular, 5–6 days as high, 3–4 days as moderate, and 0–2 days as low.  The association between independent variables and dichotomized MVPA was examined using two-level logistic regression analysis.

Results

Almost all of the 21 variables added to the model explained the children's and adolescents’ PA, but only three were significant in all four PA categories: less perceived barriers, voluntary PA on a regular basis and higher peer support increased the likelihood of being very active. High perceived physical performance and physical competence, screen time and attending in sports clubs on a regular basis were of great importance especially in the highest activity group.  

Conclusion and implications

In this study, we identified factors that should be taken into account to reach those children and adolescents who are not physically active enough. The results also showed that the children and adolescents with different activity levels also differ from each other in terms of correlates. Challenge in design and implementation of effective interventions is the ability to take into account these differences and varied connections between the PA and the context in which it occurs.