Physical Activity and Screen-Based Recreation Patterns Among Adolescents in South Kerala - A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Physical inactivity is now identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Worldwide, 80% of adolescents do not meet the recommended levels of physical activity, and a significant number spend more than two hours each day on recreational screen activities. Methods: The study was conducted among 1844 class eleven students recruited from fifteen Government/Government-aided Higher Secondary schools in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, through a multistage cluster sampling. Socio-demographic information, frequency and duration of different types of physical activity, and screen-based recreational activities, as well as the participant’s awareness and perception on physical activity and screen usage was collected through a pre-validated structured self-administered questionnaire in the local language. Results: In the study about 34.1% students reported never engaging in at least ten minutes of continuous vigorous physical activity. Around 46.2% engage in vigorous activity less than three times a week. More than half (55.2%) of participants use social media for one to three hours per day. About 46.2% of participants watch television for one to three hours a day. A higher percentage of females (46.4%) reported never engaging in vigorous physical activity compared to males (10.4%). About 67% reported facing obstacles when trying to engage in physical activity. Also, even though more than half of the students were aware of many benefits of physical activity, only a third of them were aware of lifestyle diseases. Conclusion: Engagement in physical activity was low, and screen-based sedentary behaviour was high among the students. Measures to improve awareness of physical activity for lifestyle disease prevention, improve engagement in physical activity and to limit screen-based sedentary behaviour need to be implemented in schools in the state. Key words: Adolescents, Physical Activity, Screen use