Introduction: Findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey III (MOH, 2008) indicate a 43.7% prevalence of physical inactivity among Malaysian adults. This sedentary lifestyle can also be observed among children and adolescents.
Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine factors associated with physical activity levels of four hundred, 13 year-old adolescents in Kuantan, Pahang. Data on socio-demographic, health-related, and psychosocial factors were collected using a self-administered questionnaire while physical activity level was assessed using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C).
Results: About one-third of the respondents were in the low physical activity level category, 61.5% were in the moderate category and only 3.0% of the adolescents were in the high physical activity level category. Males were more physically active than females (chi2 = 23.667, p = 0.0001) with female adolescents (45.1%) twice as likely as male adolescents (22.1%) to be in the low physical activity level category. The associations between physical activity level with socio-demographic and health-related factors, perception of weight status and body parts satisfaction were not significant. However, physical activity was found to be positively correlated with physical activity self-efficacy (r = 0.496, p = 0.0001), peer influence ( r = 0.468, p = 0.0001), family influence (r = 0.298, p = 0.0001) and beliefs in physical activity outcomes (r = 0.207, p = 0.0001). Negative relationships were found between physical activity with depression (r = -0.116, p = 0.021) and body size discrepancy (r = -0.143, p < 0.01). Respoedbnts who had a better perception of their current health status were more physically active chi2 = 21.062, p = 0.0001). Multivariate analyses for the prediction of physical activity showed that physical activity self-efficacy, sex and peer influence were the most significant contributors in explaining physical activity among adolescents.
Conclusion: Physical activity interventions should include psychosocial components as mediator variables in interventions designed to promote regular physical activity in adolescence.