Family context and the physical activity of adolescents: comparing differences

ABSTRACT: Introduction: Family context plays an important role with regard to the physical activity (PA) of adolescents. Intense changes in family composition, including an increase of single-parent structures can affect behavior. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of PA, between boys and girls of 11-17 years old, and investigate its association with family context variables. Methods: A cross-sectional population-based study “The BH Health Study” was conducted in two health districts of Belo Horizonte. The outcome was PA (≥ 300 minutes/week), which was created from a score that combined time and frequency of cycling and walking to school and leisure time. The independent variables were family context, sociodemographic characteristics and nutritional status. Poisson regression was used with a robust variance and was stratified by gender. Results: 1,015 adolescents participated, 52.8% of whom were male, with a mean age of 14 (± 1.9) years old. The prevalence of PA was 38.8% for girls and 54.5% for boys. Among girls, the family context variables were not significantly associated with PA. Boys were more active when there was an adult in the household reported who did PA (PR = 1.26; 95%CI 1.02 - 1.55) and when living with a single mother (PR = 1.63; 95%CI 1.01 - 2.63). It was also observed that boys that live with their mother and father (PR=1.90; 95%CI 1.06 - 3.41) or only with their mother (PR = 1.82; 95%CI 1.01 - 3.27) reported did PA more frequently in their free time. Conclusion: The presence of an active adult in the household, mainly the mother, appears to be an important factor associated with boys’ PA.

摘要：
引言：家庭环境对青少年的体力活动（Physical Activity，PA）具有重要影响。家庭结构的剧烈变化，包括单亲家庭占比的提升，可对青少年行为产生作用。
研究目的：估算11至17岁男女青少年的体力活动患病率，并探究其与家庭环境相关变量的关联。
研究方法：本研究于巴西贝洛奥里藏特的两个卫生辖区内开展，为基于人群的横断面研究，项目名称为《BH健康研究》（The BH Health Study）。本研究的结局指标为体力活动（PA），定义为每周累计≥300分钟的体力活动，其赋值基于通勤骑行、步行上学的时长与频率，以及休闲时间活动量的综合评分。自变量涵盖家庭环境、社会人口学特征与营养状况。本研究采用稳健方差泊松回归模型，并按性别进行分层分析。
研究结果：本研究共纳入1015名青少年，其中52.8%为男性，平均年龄为14±1.9岁。女性青少年的体力活动患病率为38.8%，男性为54.5%。在女性青少年中，未观察到家庭环境相关变量与体力活动存在显著关联。男性青少年若家庭中有报告参与体力活动的成年人（相对危险度PR=1.26，95%置信区间CI：1.02~1.55），或与单身母亲共同生活（PR=1.63，95%CI：1.01~2.63），其体力活动水平更高。此外还观察到，与双亲共同生活（PR=1.90，95%CI：1.06~3.41）或仅与母亲共同生活（PR=1.82，95%CI：1.01~3.27）的男性青少年，其休闲时间参与体力活动的频率更高。
结论：家庭中存在参与体力活动的成年人（主要为母亲），似乎是与男性青少年体力活动水平相关的重要影响因素。