Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviours Among Colombian Children and Youth: Prevalence, Correlates and International Comparisons

Abstract

In the context of epidemiological transitions in Latin American countries evidence is scarce. In Colombia, despite a broad policy framework for healthy lifestyles promotion, surveillance of movement behaviours including physical activity and sedentary behaviours has been limited. Therefore, this thesis aims to: a) Describe indicators of physical activity and sedentary behaviours among Colombian children and adolescents; b) determine the factors associated with meeting physical activity guidelines, engaging in active play, using active transportation and spending excessive recreational screen time among Colombian children and adolescents; and c) draw international comparisons of physical activity and sedentary behaviour indicators. To accomplish this, cross-sectional data from the National Survey of Nutrition in Colombia 2015-2016 and the Global Matrix of Physical Activity in Children and Youth 3.0 were analyzed. This dissertation compiles five research manuscripts prepared and submitted for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Paper one describes physical activity indicators and correlates among Colombian children and found that a low proportion of children and adolescents in Colombia are physically active, with a consistently lower prevalence among females across all age groups. Paper two depicts the national situation of active transportation to school, indicating a non-negligible prevalence of this behaviour and several correlates to guide the design of strategies to promote walking and biking to school in Colombia. Paper three focused on recreational screen time and its correlates and found a high prevalence of excessive recreational screen time that increases with age. Paper four puts Colombian data in global context with nine other countries with a similar human development index participating in the Global Matrix 3.0 initiative. This study compared grades of behavioural and sources of influence indicators and found similarly low performance across countries. In paper five a latent profile analysis approach was used to build active transportation profiles that contribute to understand active commuting to school across 49 countries from the Global Matrix 3.0. This dissertation helps fill gaps in knowledge in Colombia, and middle-income countries more broadly, providing national estimates of physical activity and sedentary behaviours of children aged 3-17 years for the first time in the surveillance history of the country.