Prevalence and factors associated with low physical activity level among the peruvian population

© 2017 Sociedad espanola de dietetica. All rights reserved. Introduction: The low physical activity increases the risk of noncommunicable diseases. Objectives: to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the low physical activity of Peruvian population. Methods: cross-sectional study. The sampling was probabilistic, stratified and multistage. 5792 houses were visited and 10653 Peruvian between 15 to 69 years were evaluated. Physical activity was evaluated by IPAQ-OMS and it was rated: high, moderate and low, to report less than 10 continuous minutes of physical activity in a typical day. Nutritional status was evaluated according to IMC for the age of the adolescents and BMI in the rest. Informed consent was asked. The analysis was performed using SPSS for complex samples, it was adjusted by weighting factor. Median, proportions, chi square and regression logistic were calculated. Results: 75.8% performed low physical activity, 21.3% moderate and 2.9% high. The age between 20-29 (OR=0.4); 30-59 (OR=0.3); 60-69 (OR=0.5), the female (OR= 2.8), the secondary education (OR=1.2), Higher education level (1.5), having couple (OR=1.3), obesity (OR= 1.7), living in urban areas (OR = 1.9), Metropolitan Lima (OR= 1,9), Coast (OR=1.4) and Jungle (OR=1.5) were associated with low physical activity. Discussion: The majority of Peruvians presented low physical activity, being similar with the existing literature. Conclusions: Three-quarters of Peruvians have low physical activity. The age, female, Higher educational level, having couple, obesity, reside in urban, metropolitan Lima, coast and jungle is associated with low physical activity.