Prediction of Physical Activity Factors in Macedonian Adolescents

IntroductionRegular physical activity (PA) provides adolescents with important physical, mental, and social health benefits (Department of Health, Physical Activity, Health Improvement and Prevention, 2004). Despite these advantages there has been a rapid decline in physical activity during adolescence. If in early adolescence habits are forms for engaging in physical activity the adolescents are more likely to be physically active in adulthood (Telama & Yang, 1997; Vanreusel et al., 1997; Yang et al., 1999). Physical activity is a complex behavior being affected by multiple internal and external factors, such as socio-cultural, psychological-cognitive and physical-social environment surrounding the individual. The explanation how the factors affect behavioral change is crucial for preparation of interventions, strategies and educational programs that will contribute to increasing the physical activity level in adolescents (Sallis et al., 2000; Trost et al., 1997). In the Republic of Macedonia there is not a great number of studies that researched the factors which influence the physical activity of Macedonian adolescents, due to which in this study we used data from the literature in English language.This research has been realized in order (a) to determine the relation of demographic, psychological, social and environmental factors with physical activity, (b) to determine whether the indicators of physical activity differ by gender and (c) to make recommendations for interventions to promote active and healthy lifestyle for this population group.Material & methodsParticipants - SubjectsThe research was realized on a sample of 847 Macedonian adolescents at the age from 14 to 18 years. The sample is divided into two subsamples according to gender out of whom 407 are male respondents and 440 are female respondents. The average age of the respondents from both genders was 16,4 years.The sample included students whose parents had given consent for their son/daughter to participate in the research, and who were psychologically and physically healthy and who regularly attended classes of physical and health education. The respondents were treated in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration. Measurements were conducted in March, April and May 2007, in standard school conditions at regular classes of physical and health education.MeasuresA questionnaire was used to identify (i) demographic factors (ii) the physical activity, (iii) the sedentary behaviour, (iv) the factors associated with physical activity and (v) environmental factors. Demographic factors: The following demographic data and participant characteristics were collected to describe the study sample: Sex, Education of the father, Education of the mother, Whether the father is dealing with sport, Whether the mother is dealing with sport, residence place, number of family members.Physical Activity: Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was measured using an item modified from the Health-Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study, which was found to have acceptable reliability and validity (Booth, Okely, Chey, & Bauman, 2001). The respondents were asked to answer how many times per week were involved in physical activity lasting 20 minutes or longer. The students received the following definition for MVPA; 'activity that makes you breathe heavily and increases your heart rate'. Sedentary behaviours: The respondents were asked to answer a question, how long they spend in sedentary activity such as: watching TV (including watching video or DVDs), computer work (playing computer games, chatting or surfing on the internet). The questions firstly refer to the working days (Monday - Friday), and then to the non-working days. The respondent answers to each item that is fixed at fourteen degree scale, "never", "15 minutes or less", "30 minutes", "1 hour", "1.5 hour", "2 hours","2.30 hour","3 hours", "3. …