Physical activity of Polish adolescents and young adults according to IPAQ: a population based study

The alarming problem of a decline in physical activity among children and adolescents and its detrimental effects on public health has been well recognised worldwide. Low physical activity is responsible for 6% of deaths worldwide and 5-10% of deaths in the countries of the WHO European Region, according to country. Within the last decade, many initiatives have been launched to counteract this phenomenon. The objective of presented study was analysis of the level of physical activity among adolescents and young adults in Poland, according to the IPAQ questionnaire. The study group covered 7,716 adolescents: 5,086 children attending high school and secondary schools and 2,630 university students. Low physical activity was noted among 57% of schoolchildren and 20.84% of students. Analysis of the level of physical activity according to the IPAQ indicated that it was lower among girls, compared to boys. An additional analysis, with the consideration of the place of residence, showed that the highest percentage of the population with low physical activity was noted in the rural areas (29.30%), while among the urban inhabitants of cities with a population above 100,000 it was on the level of 23.69% and 20.57%. Median for weekly physical activity by respondents` gender was on the level of 1,554.00 MET*min. weekly among females, and 2,611.00 MET*min. weekly among males (p