Percepção dos riscos e benefícios da prática regular de atividades físicas em estudantes das escolas públicas de Fortaleza, Ceará

Abstract

Understanding the perceived benefits and risks of regular physical activity (PA) to health can help in understanding how these beliefs explain this behavior in the young population. The objective of the study was to identify the perception of risks and benefits of regular practice of PA in schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study that included 1182 schoolchildren aged 11 to 18 years old, from the 7th to 9th grades of Elementary School of six full-time schools of the municipal education network of Fortaleza, Ceará. The students answered a questionnaire with ten statements about the risks and benefits of regular practice of PA, based on previously validated instruments. Each statement had four-point Likert scale response options (from "fully disagree" to "strongly agree"). The relative frequency of responses was calculated, and the Chi-square test was used for comparisons between genders and age groups. The level of significance was set at 5%. As a result, 92.3% and 92.9% of schoolchildren agreed that regular PA practice would improve or maintain fitness and help control body weight, respectively. The benefit with a lower proportion of agreement was to have more contact with their friends (57.9%). On the other hand, 65.7% and 51.6% of the students agreed that they would feel tired or could have some injury with regular practice of PA, respectively. In the comparison between genders, boys had a higher proportion of concordance compared to girls in two items on benefits - making new friends (66.7% vs. 48.5%, p <0.001) and becoming more cheerful (82.5% % Vs. 77.3%, p = 0.024) - and one on risk - could have injury (58.3% vs. 43.9%, p <0.001). On the other hand, girls had a higher proportion of concordance than regular PA practice would be boring (24.3% vs. 17.4%, p = 0.003) when compared to boys. Schoolchildren aged 16-18 years had lower agreement with the "feel more cheerful, good-humored" benefit when compared to those aged 11-13 years and 14-15 years (74.6%, 81.8% and 80, 6%, respectively, p = 0.047). Conversely, schoolchildren aged 16-18 years had greater agreement on risk perception "would stop doing other important things for me" (p <0.001), "could have some injury" (p = 0.014) and "would be boring" (P <0.001). It is concluded that the benefits of social and psychological health were less perceived among girls and older. Strategies that seek to develop knowledge and attitude about the benefits of PA on social and psychological aspects can contribute to the stimulation and construction of a more active young population