Tendência da atividade física e comportamento sedentário entre adultos no Brasil 2006 a 2016

Abstract

The practice of physical activity is pointed by literature as an important element for the promotion of health and quality of life of the population. Scientific evidence has shown the benefits of physical activity and how its practice is important for the prevention of chronic diseases. However, physical inactivity is still high, being one of the leading causes of death risk worldwide and it is the main factor which predisposes to chronic non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes. Sedentary behavior is also considered a risk factor for chronic non-communicable disease independent of the practice of physical activity. According to the World Health Organization, 38 million people die annually from chronic non-communicable diseases. One of the greatest challenges for public health is to encourage the population to be more physically active, make these individuals aware that there are other domains of physical activity, not only at leisure, but also in commuting, occupational and household chores. Brazil is one of the few developing countries which presents national data about risk factors and protection for chronic diseases, such as physical activity in all domains and sedentary behavior. Monitoring these factors is essential for planning health policies in order to achieve the best decision-making. In light of this context, this study aimed to analyze the trend of physical activity and sedentary behavior in Brazil from 2006 to 2016. Secondary data from the Risk and Protective Factors Surveillance for Chronic NonCommunicable Diseases through Telephone Interview (VIGITEL) project were used from 2006 to 2016 in all capitals of the 26 Brazilian states and in the Federal District. The variables used were: active during their leisure time (150 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity), active in commuting (≥ 30 minutes per day on foot or by bicycle to/from work or school), occupational physical activity, household chores and sedentary behavior (watch television for three or more hours). The data were analyzed by the statistic package STATA version 13 and Prais-Winsten model was used for the trend analysis. All estimates with p value <0.05 showed an increase in the trend when the annual trend (APC) was positive and decrease in trend when the annual change (APC) was negative, estimates with p value >0.05, the series was considered stationary. The overall results presented growing trend for physical activity at leisure, since the other domains (commuting, occupational and household chores) were stationary. The general sedentary behavior also pointed to stationary trend, however when associated with the variable civil status widowed, there was a growing trend with an annual change of 1.7% (p = 0.025). This study shows the need of implementing effective public policies and investing in health programs stimulating people to be active. The most important goal for public health related to physical activity is to increase this practice for those that currently do not do any physical activity and make the population aware that sedentary behavior causes deleterious health effects regardless of physical activity.