Assessment of Physical Activity among Students at Tay Bac University, Vietnam

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the physical activity of Tay Bac university students in the academic year 2020-2021.

Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was carried out on 832 students using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) within period from November 2020 to March 2021 at Tay Bac university, Son La province, Vietnam. The data was analyzed following the criteria set by World Health Organization (WHO) and were assessed the recommendation of energy expenditure of MET minute/ week.

Results: The percentage of students who met the WHO recommendation (sufficient physical activity) with total energy expenditure due to physical activity ≥ 600METminute/ week was 54.4%. The proportion of men met the recommendation is higher than that of women 61.9% compared to 49.5% (p<0.001). Furthermore, men found a higher amount of physical activity and total energy expenditure due to physical activity than women. Students have a static (inactive) time of 352.39 minutes/day (equivalent to 5.87 hours/day).

Conclusions: Physical activity of students was still very low with MET>=600, only 54.4% of total. Specific strategies of education programs should be implicated to strengthen understanding of physical activity benefits, as well as improve the awareness of harmful effects of sedentary behavior and long-term health risks.

Author(s): Thi Duc Vu, Quoc Thanh Pham*, Van Tuan Le, Thi Nga Le, Tien Dung Pham, Duc Tuan Vuong and Viet Cuong Pham

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