[Stages of behavioral change regarding physical activity in students from a Brazilian town].

OBJECTIVES Verifying the association between stages of behavioural change (SBC) for physical activity (PA) and socio-demographic factors, behavioural factors and PA barriers in students from a small town in Brazil. MATERIALS AND METHODS This cross-sectional study's representative sample was formed by 281 high school students from Simão Dias, Sergipe State, in Brazil, having 17.4 (± 1.98) mean age. Socio-demographic information was collected via a self-administered instrument (gender, age, school grade, economic level (EL) and family-head's EL), SBC for PA, behavioural factors (smoking, alcohol and stress) and PA barriers. A hierarchical model was used, involving Poisson regression with respective confidence intervals; significance level was set at 5 % for all analysis. RESULTS 65.8 % of the participating students were classified in stages referring to inactive physical behaviour. Being female had the probability of presenting 1.37 times higher inactive behaviour (1.14-1.65 95 %CI) when compared to being male in the final regression model; having a low EL remained a risk factor, compared to medium EL students (PR=1.41; 1.15-1.72 95 %CI). CONCLUSION These findings may prove useful for developing health promotion programmes in school environments, paying special attention to female and low-EL students.