Policymakers rely on information for describing and monitoring levels of physical activity among the population. However, in Uruguay there is no research presenting physical activity practices nationwide. The present study aims to describe the leisure time physical activity levels and their unequal distribution among Uruguayan adults. Data from the 2014 Uruguayan National Health Survey (n = 3543 adults aged > 15 years) were analysed. Physical activity was measured by questionnaire, with participants reporting the number of days and time spent doing physical activity during leisure time in a typical week. Only 25.1% of the participants met the international recommendations for physical activity. Males were twice as active as females in early adulthood in terms of time. The absolute socioeconomic gap between the poorest and wealthiest income quintiles was around 20 percentage points, and participants with the highest physical activity levels were within the wealthiest and highest-educational levels. A low proportion of the population met the proxy of the international recommendations for physical activity. Important socioeconomic inequalities have been found in physical activity practices and must be considered in public health interventions.
Keywords: South America; adults; noncommunicable diseases; physical activity; surveillance.