DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i01.028

Pages: 195-202

Obesity is fast approaching cigarette smoking as the major preventable cause of mortality. The relationship between activity levels and body mass index is unclear, despite large number of studies. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between physical activity and body mass index among university students. We chose a cross-sectional study design. The sample comprised 372university students, 140 males and 232 females. The mean age for total population was 20.7±1.3 years. Body mass index was calculated from the data retrieved from self-reported questionnaire. Subject's participation in physical activity was assessed using International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short-Form (IPAQ). Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Categorical variables were described by frequency analysis. The chi-square test of significance was used to assess the association between physical activity and body mass index. Comparisons were considered to be statistically significant at P ≤0.05. Out of 372 subjects, 255 (68.5%) of total study population had BMI in the normal weight category, 68 (18.3%) of total population were underweight and 49 (13.2%) were overweight or obese. High level of physical activity among the study population was 62 (16.7%) while 148 (39.8%) and 162 (43.5%) of them had a moderate and low level of physical activity respectively. No significant correlation was found between BMI and PA (p=0.153). There was a statistically significant association between gender and body mass index among university students (p=0.001). The results obtained in this study reinforce the controversy of the relation between PA and BMI among university students. Our findings suggested that the higher physical activity level could be found even among overweight and obese categories. However, the results indicate that those belonging to the moderate and high PA group are more likely to belong to normal BMI category.