Characteristics associated with sport practice among adolescents from a city in Southern Brazil

Introduction: Physical inactivity is a major public health problem. It is necessary to acquire healthy behaviors in childhood, since the habits acquired tend to last until adult life. Objective: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and characteristics related to sport practice in adolescents from a city in southern Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional, epidemiological study was carried out with 582 adolescents aged 11-17 years. Independent, dependent variables and covariates were evaluated by means of questionnaire. Body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) were measured. Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval. Results: Students from public and private schools who did not participate in any sport team were more likely of presenting abdominal obesity (OR: 2.17; 95% CI: 1.16-5.09 and OR: 2.15; 95% CI: 1.13-4.09, respectively) and not practicing sports in childhood (OR: 1.38; 95% CI: 0.98-2.45 and OR: 1.87; 95% CI: 1.98-2.80, respectively), and those who participated in one sport team were more likely of not practicing sports in childhood (OR: 2.60; 95% CI: 1.45-4.65 and OR: 1.26; 95% CI: 1.20 -1.33, respectively), when compared to those who participated in two or more sport teams. Students from public school who participated in one sport teams were more likely of having abdominal obesity (OR: 3.50; 95% CI: 1.02-12.92) when compared to adolescents who participated in two or more sport teams. Conclusions: Results can help in possible school-based interventions to promote sport practice.