Effect of age on physical activity levels among teachers in selected secondary schools, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Background. Sedentary lifestyle is a leading cause of death and disability in the world. This study investigated association between age and physical activity levels among secondary school teachers in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Material and Method. Six Schools were selected using purposive sampling method, while 141 teachers were selected using random sampling technique. The physical activity levels were assessed with the long version of IPAQ. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, range, frequencies and percentages and inferential statistics of chi-square. Alpha level was set at 0.05.
Results. Age of participants was 37.26±6.76 years with range of 22-52 years. Results showed that 66.7% of the 141 participants met requirement for sufficient health enhancing physical activity, while 33.3% did not meet the requirement. The age group with the highest percentage of high physical activity level is 30-39 with 71.9% of participants in this age group meeting the requirement for sufficient health enhancing physical activity. The age group with the lowest percentage of high physical activity level was 20-29. 47.4% of the participants met the requirement for sufficient health enhancing physical activity. The population of participants with low physical activity level was 4.3%, while 29.1% had moderate physical activity levels and 66.7% had high physical activity levels. Chi-square analysis indicated that there was no significant age group difference in participants that met the requirements for sufficient health-enhancing physical activity (X2=4.526, P=0.210).
Conclusion. The results indicate that the majority of secondary school teachers in Ibadan are at least moderately physically active (95.7%). Only 4.7% of the secondary school teachers that participated in this study are physically inactive.

Key words:

age, physical activity, health