Original reportsPrevalence and Correlates of Physical Activity Behaviors among Elementary Schoolchildren in Multiethnic, Low Income, Inner-City Neighborhoods in Montreal, Canada
Introduction
Although few national data are available on consistently measured trends in physical activity (1), there has been concern recently over possibly declining physical activity levels among North American children related to increased leisure time spent watching television (TV) and playing video games 2, 3, 4. The practice of regular physical activity has been associated with more favorable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factor profiles in children and adolescents including lower blood pressure (5), more favorable serum lipid and lipoprotein levels 6, 7, 8, and decreased adiposity 9, 10, 11. There is good evidence that childhood physical activity levels track into adolescence 12, 13 and adulthood (10), so that inactivity in youth could contribute to a lifelong habit of inactivity. Also, physical inactivity in youth is associated with other health-compromising behaviors including cigarette smoking, lower fruit and vegetable consumption, and more hours spent watching television 10, 13. Declining physical activity levels among youth could have adverse effects on cardiovascular health. Therefore, increased understanding of the evolution and determinants of inactivity among youth is needed to support the development of effective prevention strategies.
As part of the evaluation of a 5-year school-based heart health promotion program, we collected baseline data in May/June 1993 on physical activity behaviors of all students aged 9–13 in grades 4 to 6 in 24 elementary schools located in multiethnic, low income, inner-city neighborhoods in Montreal. This report describes the prevalence and correlates of physical inactivity and of participation in organized sports at and outside school in this population, as measured in the baseline survey.
Section snippets
Methods
The Cœur en santé St-Louis-du-Parc heart health program of interventions, as well as the study design used to evaluate its impact, have been described previously 14, 15, 16, 17. Baseline data were collected from students in two visits to each school. During the first visit, height and weight were measured by interviewers trained according to a standardized protocol (18). Students were then given an envelope containing two self-administered questionnaires for completion by their
Results
Data were collected from 2285 of 2840 eligible students (80.5%); 143 (5.0%) were absent on the day of the in-class questionnaire administration and 411 (14.5%) did not participate because their parents did not provide consent. Data were obtained from 2362 parents, 66.7% of those eligible. Table 1 shows the socio-demographic characteristics of the sample and highlights its low SES and high ethnic diversity. There were 104 countries of birth reported by subjects and their parents.
Table 2 shows
Discussion
This is one of the first large studies on the prevalence and correlates of physical activity behaviors among young children in multiethnic, low income, inner-city neighborhoods in Canada. The proportion of eligible subjects who participated in the study was high—over 80%. The diverse ethnic backgrounds of children in the sample, the large proportion of children born outside Canada, and the large proportion of children living in families with insufficient income suggest that the study included a
Conclusion
This study documents a relatively high prevalence of inactivity among preadolescent children from low income, ethnically diverse, inner-city neighborhoods. The prevalence was higher among girls than boys, and increased with age in both genders. Other correlates of inactivity included no participation in organized sports at or outside school, lower perceived self-efficacy for physical activity, and low parental support for engaging in physical activity. Children of Asian family origin were less
Acknowledgements
This research was conducted as part of the Projet québécois de démonstration en santé du coeur which was funded by the National Health Research and Development Program, Health Canada (grant no. 66053754-H), the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, and the Quebec Heart and Stroke Foundation. Jennifer O'Loughlin is a National Health Research Scholar. Lise Renaud is Chercheur-boursier of the Conseil québécois de la recherche sociale. The authors thank Garbis Meshefedjian and Isabelle
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