Correlates of Insufficient Physical Activity among Junior High School Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Xi’an, China

BACKGROUND Physical activity plays an important role in individual health at all stages of life. However, evidence is lacking regarding the level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and the related factors to insufficient physical activity (IPA). METHODS A sample of 1060 students aged 12-15 years from nine public junior high schools in China were invited to participate in this study. Physical activity was assessed by a modified version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to assess the factors associated with IPA. RESULTS 30.1% boys and 43.0% girls in our sample did not engage in sufficient physical activity. Obesity (OR = 2.2, 95% CI: 1.5-2.9) and high socioeconomic status (SES) (OR = 2.4, 95% CI: 1.3-4.8) were positively associated with IPA, whereas male sex (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.5-0.9), underweight status (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3-0.7), and high family support level for physical activity (OR = 0.7, 95% CI: 0.6-0.9) showed inverse associations. Age was not associated with IPA. CONCLUSIONS IPA appears to be a considerable problem in this sample of Chinese youth. Effective interventions to increase physical activity are needed and may include improving family support level for physical activity, especially for girls, the obese and those with high SES.