Global prevalence and gender inequalities in at least 60 min of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 1 or more days per week: An analysis with 707,616 adolescents

Raphael H O Araujo; André O Werneck; Clarice L Martins; Luciana L Barboza; Rafael M Tassitano; Nicolas Aguilar-Farias; Gilmar M Jesus; Robinson Ramírez-Vélez; Riki Tesler; Adewale L Oyeyemi; Ellen C M Silva; Robert G Weaver; Mark S Tremblay; Javier Brazo-Sayavera; Grégore I Mielke; Danilo R P Silva

doi:10.1016/j.jshs.2023.10.011

Global prevalence and gender inequalities in at least 60 min of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity 1 or more days per week: An analysis with 707,616 adolescents

J Sport Health Sci. 2023 Nov 3:S2095-2546(23)00109-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jshs.2023.10.011. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Raphael H O Araujo¹, André O Werneck², Clarice L Martins³, Luciana L Barboza⁴, Rafael M Tassitano⁵, Nicolas Aguilar-Farias⁶, Gilmar M Jesus⁷, Robinson Ramírez-Vélez⁸, Riki Tesler⁹, Adewale L Oyeyemi¹⁰, Ellen C M Silva¹¹, Robert G Weaver¹², Mark S Tremblay¹³, Javier Brazo-Sayavera¹⁴, Grégore I Mielke¹⁵, Danilo R P Silva¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Graduation Program in Health Sciences, Londrina State University (UEL), Londrina 86057-970, Brazil. Electronic address: raphael.edfis@gmail.com.
² Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Universidade de São Paulo (USP) 01246-904, Brazil.
³ Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Paraíba, Paraíba 58051-900, Brazil; Research Centre of Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sports, Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR), University of Porto, Porto 4500, Portugal.
⁴ Postgraduate Program in Physical Education, University of Brasília, Brasília 70910-900, Brazil.
⁵ Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL 61801-3841, USA.
⁶ Department of Physical Education, Sports and Recreation, Universidad de La Frontera, Temuco 4680000, Chile.
⁷ Department of Health, State University of Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana 44036-900, Brazil.
⁸ Navarrabiomed, Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN), Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA), Pamplona 31006, Spain; Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, Unidad Central del Valle del Cauca (UCEVA), Tuluá, Valle del Cauca 763022, Colombia.
⁹ Health Management Department, Faculty of Heath sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, 40700 Israel.
¹⁰ College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA.
¹¹ Graduation Program in Health Sciences, Londrina State University (UEL), Londrina 86057-970, Brazil.
¹² Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA.
¹³ Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada; Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L1, Canada; Department of Health Sciences, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada.
¹⁴ Department of Sports and Computer Science, Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO), Seville 41013, Spain; Centro Universitario Regional Noreste, Universidad de la República, Rivera 40000, Uruguay.
¹⁵ School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4006, Australia.
¹⁶ Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Sergipe (UFS), São Cristóvão 490100-000, Brazil; Faculty of Health Sciences, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Providencia, Chile.

PMID: 37923057
DOI: 10.1016/j.jshs.2023.10.011

Abstract

Background: Guidelines recommend that adolescents should accumulate an average of 60 min per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). However, using only this cut-off could hide important information. For instance, from a population-level point of view, increasing physical activity for those with no or low physical activity could provide more health benefits than increasing physical activity for those with intermediate levels. Also, including a more sensitive cut-point of ≥1 day per week could be an additional strategy for identifying those with low access/opportunities for physical activity practice. Thus, the current study aims to estimate the prevalence of ≥60 min of MVPA ≥1 days per week among adolescents globally, and to describe any relevant gender inequalities.

Methods: We used representative datasets from 146 countries/territories collected between 2003 and 2019. MVPA was self-reported. Participants were grouped into younger (≤14 years old) and older (>14 years old) adolescents. Crude Poisson regression models were used to identify the relative differences in ≥60 min of MVPA ≥1 days per week between boys and girls, and random-effects meta-analysis models were used to identify the pooled estimates. Analyses were stratified by country and region.

Results: Approximately 80% of both younger and older adolescents reported ≥60 min of MVPA ≥1 days per week. This prevalence was ≥94% in Europe and Central Asia and North America, while the estimates for the other regions were <77%. The prevalence of ≥60 min of MVPA ≥1 days per week was higher among boys than girls, with the largest differences occurring among the oldest adolescents (PR_≤14y: 1.04 (95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.03‒1.04) vs. PR_>14y: 1.09 (95%CI: 1.08‒1.10)).

Conclusion: Approximately 8 out of 10 adolescents reported accumulating ≥60 min of MVPA ≥1 day per week, with notable differences between regions. Gender differences were observed in several countries, especially among the oldest adolescents. Priorities for physical activity promotion among adolescents should include increasing access/opportunities for physical activity among those who do not achieve ≥60 min of MVPA ≥1 days per week and reducing gender inequalities.

Keywords: Global School-based Student Health Survey; Health Behavior Among School-aged Children; Inequality; Surveillance; Youth.