Differences in physical activity levels of school domains between high- and low-active adolescents

Abstract Aim: To compare high active (HA) and low active (LA) adolescent’s physical activity (PA) levels in three different domains: commuting to school, physical education (PE) class and recess time at school. Method: This is a cross-sectional study, with a quantitative approach and random sample of 176 (105 girls) adolescents aged 14 - 18 years old from 10 urban public high schools in southern from Brazil. PA levels were measured using a pedometer. The average number of steps was recorded on the way to school, during PE classes and during school recess time. Participants were classified as HA and LA according to Tudor-Locke’s cut-off points. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and One-Way ANOVA stratified by sex. Results: Data showed differences of mean values between school commuting PA for girls (LA: 1057.60; HA: 1624.54; Δ: 566.94; p<0.001), during PE class (LA: 1401.75, HA: 1701.10; Δ: 308.53; p<0.05) and in recess time (LA: 443.09, HA: 611.98; Δ: 168.89; p=0.001), whereas for boys, differences only found between the mean values of PA during PE class (LA: 1787.91, HA: 2511.20; Δ: 723.29; p