Background: The percentage of overweight and obese Canadian children and youth is dramatically increasing. Approaches to reducing obesity in adolescents should include the promotion of physical activity (PA) because a continued physically active lifestyle into adulthood may lower rates of chronic diseases associated with unhealthy body weight.
Purpose: The current study expands on existing assessments of PA to include predictors based in a multidimensional adolescent wellness and ecological model.
Method: Canadian adolescents (N = 603) were surveyed and the resulting data analyzed using multiple regression analysis.
Findings: Overall, 57.5 and 52.9% of the unique variance in PA for females and males, respectively, were explained by the predictors. Significant predictors for females included age, recreational time, family, leadership, and social comparison (cognitive development) skills. For males, equipment at home was also associated with increased PA.
Conclusions: The finding that social comparison and leadership skills are significant predictors of PA in adolescents is new. Nurses should consider a holistic approach to promoting PA whereby these developmental dimensions are included in assessment and prioritized in providing nursing care. Additionally, individualized PA intervention strategies can then be tailored to this unique population.
Keywords: adolescents; common themes; group/population; health promotion/disease prevention; physical activity; wellness.
© The Author(s) 2016.