Background and objective: Population levels of physical activity are an international concern. The purpose of the present study was to describe and analyse physical activity levels in Lithuanian adolescents.
Materials and methods: With this aim in mind, the Physician-based Assessment and Counselling for Exercise (PACE) questionnaire was administered to 5141 adolescents residing in Lithuania, 2502 boys (48.7%) and 2639 girls (51.3%), aged between 11 and 19 years.
Results: It was found that adolescents studied met the physical activity guideline, of 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity a day, on average 3.6 days/week (SD = 2.1). A total of 3426 adolescents (66.6%) were inactive as classified by the PACE questionnaire (at least 1 h of physical activity/day < 5 days/week). In the present sample there were more active (at least 1 h of physical activity/day ≥ 5 days/week) boys (n = 994, 39.7%) than girls (n = 721, 27.3%) (p < 0.001; OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.56 to 1.97), and, on average, boys were more likely to meet daily recommendations of physical activity than girls, 0.7 days more a week (p < 0.001; IRRs 1.21, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.25). According to age, younger adolescents (11⁻12 years) were significantly more active than older adolescents (13⁻19 years) and a curvilinear relationship between age and physical activity was observed with significant linear (unstandardized beta (B) = -0.807; standardized beta (β) = -0.796; p < 0.001) and quadratic terms (unstandardized beta (B) = 0.024; standardized beta (β) = 0.704; p < 0.001).
Conclusions: It is necessary to increase the level of physical activity in Lithuanian adolescents and intervention programs should be carried out considering these results.
Keywords: health; physical activity; schoolchildren.