Nível de atividade física de crianças do 1º ano do ensino fundamental de uma cidade do sul do país

Abstract

Low levels of physical activity have contributed to the increase of the prevalence of various diseases. So, the aim of the study was to evaluate the physical activity level of children from the 1st Year of Elementary Education in Schools of a Southern City of Brazil. For this, a representative sample of the children from the first grade of the Elementary Education of the public and private schools was determined. To obtain the data from the Physical Activity Level (PAL) the questionnaire “Typical Day Physical Activity and Food” (TDPAF) was used. Data of the number of hours in front of the television/video-game or computer were obtained through a questionnaire sent to parents. The results showed a low level of physical activity and no significant difference between education networks. There was no correlation between the PAL and sedentary behaviors, however there was a tendency that the higher number of hours on the computer, lower the PAL. In this sense, interventions in physical activity for children become very important, in order to replace the time they spend in sedentary behaviors for physical activities.