Year: 2025 | Month: January | Volume: 15 | Issue: 1 | Pages: 31-37
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20250105
Physical Activity and Screen-Based Recreation Patterns Among Adolescents in South Kerala - A Cross Sectional Study
Babu George1, Deepa Bhaskaran2, Leena Mundappaliyil Leela3, Jubyraj Aswathymana Raju4, Lalikumari Indiradevi5, Preema Mahendran6, Neethu Thulaseedharan7
1,2,3,4,5,6,7Child Development Centre, Government Medical College Campus, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Corresponding Author: Leena Mundappaliyil Leela
ABSTRACT
Background: Physical inactivity is now identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Worldwide, 80% of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity, and a significant number spend more than two hours each day on recreational screen activities.
Methods: The study was conducted among 1844 class eleven students recruited from fifteen Government/Government-aided Higher Secondary schools in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, through a multistage cluster sampling. Socio-demographic information, frequency and duration of different types of physical activity, and screen-based recreational activities, as well as the participant’s awareness and perception on physical activity and screen usage was collected through a pre-validated structured self-administered questionnaire in the local language.
Results: In the study about 34.1% students reported never engaging in at least ten minutes of continuous vigorous physical activity. Around 46.2% engage in vigorous activity less than three times a week. More than half (55.2%) of participants use social media for one to three hours per day. About 46.2% of participants watch television for one to three hours a day. A higher percentage of females (46.4%) reported never engaging in vigorous physical activity compared to males (10.4%). About 67% reported facing obstacles when trying to engage in physical activity. Also, even though more than half of the students were aware of many benefits of physical activity, only a third of them were aware of lifestyle diseases.
Conclusion: Engagement in physical activity was low, and screen-based sedentary behaviour was high among the students. Measures to improve awareness of physical activity for lifestyle disease prevention, improve engagement in physical activity and to limit screen-based sedentary behaviour need to be implemented in schools in the state.
Key words: Adolescents, Physical Activity, Screen use