An investigation into university students’ physical activity levels: Case of Amasya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine and assess the physical activity levels of university students. A total of 762 healthy students (410 of whom were female, and 352 of them were male) studying at departments in Amasya University participated in the study on a voluntary basis. The data in this paper were collected through the Pyhsical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (PAAQ). All data on the physical activity levels of the participants were analyzed via descriptive statistics, such as frequencies and percentages, while the correlations on the physical activities and Body Mass Index (BMI) were evaluated by means the Pearson Correlation Analysis method. Following the analysis, it was found that 63.6% of students perform physical activity for 2-4 hours daily, whereas 31.8% spend 5-8 hours daily, doing physical activity. The so-called activities were found as: 46.5% several walks, 36.2% house chores, 41.7% different hobbies, 14.2% jogging, and 21.8% sports activities. Further, it was concluded that as the number of the days of physical activity increases, the BMI statistically significantly decreases (P<0.05), but the duration for house chores increases, the BMI statistically significantly increases (P<0.01). Additionally, there was a linear correlation between physical activity and house chores and hobbies (P<0.01). Based on the findings, it can be noted that the majority of the students in Amasya University are engaged in physical activity, but the activities are generally found as walks, hobbies, and house chores.

Keywords: Physical activity, university students, body mass index.

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