Assessment of physical activity in medical and public health students

Abstract

Background:Reduced level of physical activity, as an important problem of urbanization and industrial development, has a considerable impact on the population morbidity and mortality. The rate of inactivity has been reported to be 60–85% in adults worldwide. Considering the importance of physical activity among youth, the aim of this study was to evaluate the physical activity among university students.Materials and Methods:In this cross-sectional study physical activity was assessed in 399 medical and public health students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Physical activity was evaluated by standard questionnaire in four fields containing job, transport, work, and leisure time at home.Findings:Regarding moderate physical activity, 48.6% of students were active and the rest were inactive. Regarding severe physical activity, 32.6% were active and the rest were inactive. Mean number of hours for moderate activity per day was 1.96 ± 0.19 h/day in the last 7 days. There was a significant relationship between physical activity and sex and students’ course of study.Conclusion:The results indicated that the level of physical activity was not sufficient among students; therefore, considering its importance among students, it is necessary to educate them regarding lifestyle modification specially to increase the level of physical activity during their leisure time.

Impact of Sport on the Cardiovascular Diseases Scale Based on Health Belief Model: Questionnaire Psychometric Properties

“…It is among the ten major causes of death throughout the world and about two million deaths occur for this reason every year; meanwhile, inactivity causes a 2 -5 folded increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and obesity (1,2). In developing countries, including Iran, the CVD morality rate of 20% -25% has increased to 35% -40% as a result of the tendency for urbanization, the decrease in physical activity, weight gain, increase of blood lipids, and other dangerous risk factors (3).…”

“…Accordingly, more than 60% of adults do not have sufficient physical activity to be healthy on the basis of available statistics (8). There is also inactivity among 65% of adults in Iran, which is considered as one of the factors affecting the outbreak of CVDs in this country (2,4). This can be resulted from the complexities of behavior; due to the fact that any changes in knowledge will not always result in the changes of attitudes, and any changes of attitudes will not result in the changes of behavior because the environment may not allow the person to show any behavior (9).…”

Negative and positive predictive relationships between coping strategies and the three burnout dimensions among Hungarian medical students

“…Vizsgálatunkban az orvostanhallgatók 17%-a dohány-zott, ami alátámasztja a korábbi hazai kutatások eredmé-nyeit [34,35]. Jelen kutatásunk eredményei az orvostanhallgatók rendszeres fi zikai aktivitásáról (közel 50%-os részvételi arány) megegyezik a nemzetközi kutatások adataival (32,3-48,6%) [36,37,38,39].…”

Physical Activity; Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Students Living in Semnan University of Medical Sciences Dormitories in Semnan, Iran

“…According to the research findings released by World Health Organization, physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for deaths worldwide causing an estimated 2 million deaths annually. According to the statistics reported by this organization, it is estimated that about 1,240,000 deaths and 1,243,000 potential years of life lost are the consequences of physical inactivity in the Eastern Mediterranean regions (4). PA was considered in some studies (7,8).…”

“…Physical inactivity can double the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, as well as obesity (4,5). Today, a majority of the urban population experiences physical or mental illnesses and fatigue.…”