Demographic, Lifestyle and Mental Health Factors Associated with Physical Activity Among School-Going Adolescents in Timor-Leste

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-076-3_18How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Adolescent; Demographic factors; Lifestyles; Physical activity; Mental health

Abstract

It is widely accepted that physical activity has beneficial impacts on health outcomes. However, a large proportion of adolescents are physically inactive. The objective of the present study is to examine factors associated with physical activity among school-going adolescents in Timor-Leste. Nationally representative data with a sample size of 3455 students were used. An ordered probit model was utilized to assess the effects of various demographic, lifestyle and mental health factors on different levels of physical activity (0, 1–2, 3–4, 5–6 and 7 days/week). Small numbers of adolescents engaged in physical activity 7 days/week (9.2%). Older male adolescents were more likely to spend 3–4, 5–6 and 7 days/week on physical activity than younger female adolescents. Consumption of vegetables, soft drinks and alcohol was associated with a decreased likelihood of not participating in physical activity. Adolescents were more likely to spend 7 days/week on physical activity if they had severe loneliness feelings and mild sleep difficulties. Demographic, lifestyle and mental health factors play an important role in determining physical activity levels among school-going adolescents. The findings of the present study are crucial to policymakers interested in the lifestyles of the adolescent population.

Copyright

© 2023 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yong Kang Cheah
PY  - 2023
DA  - 2023/07/29
TI  - Demographic, Lifestyle and Mental Health Factors Associated with Physical Activity Among School-Going Adolescents in Timor-Leste
BT  - Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Future of Asean 2023 (ICoFA 2023)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 219
EP  - 239
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-076-3_18
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-076-3_18
ID  - Cheah2023
ER  -