Selected Determinants of Physical Activity of the Inhabitants of the Poznań Metropolis Based on the IPAQ Questionnaire

Abstract

Low level of physical activity is one of the main problems of modern society's health. Research results suggest that Poland is a country characterised by low physical activity, with city dwellers being more active than villagers. So far, the research issues of physical activity of city dwellers have not included a context of a metropolitan area. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine the level of physical activity of the inhabitants of the Poznań Metropolis and to analyse selected health, demographic, and socio-economic factors influencing such activity. A questionnaire survey was conducted from March to June 2016 on a group of 1584 inhabitants of the Poznań Metropolis. The survey was based on a short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaires - IPAQ. The results showed that 33% of the inhabitants of the Poznań Metropolis showed sufficient, 48% - high level of physical activity, and only 17% of the respondents did not meet the WHO recommendation for physical activity. Statistical analysis based on the CHAID classification tree algorithm indicated the highest influence of age, gender, income, home location, and marital status on the level of physical activity of the inhabitants of the Poznań Metropolis. The analysis did not find statistically significant correlation between the Body Mass Index BMI and the level of physical activity.(original abstract)

Keywords

• Physical activity
• Demographic factors
• Social and cultural condition
• Classification trees