Attività fisica e comportamento sedentario

Regular exercise significantly affects the quality of life, improving both the physical and psychological state of health and reducing the risk of general mortality. Regular exercise produces numerous physiological benefits, with the subsequent reduction in the risk of insurgence of serious pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, obesity, some types of tumours and osteoarticular diseases. The literature advises children and adolescents to do from 30 to 60 minutes of moderate physical exercise for a few days a week and recommends avoiding long periods of inactivity. Results At the regional level: • the percentages of those who carry out exercise for at least one hour, 5 or more days a week, are similar, being 31% for the stratum of 11-year olds, 33% for that of 13-year olds, and about 27% for the stratum of 15-year olds; • in general, the analysis of data has found that 15-year olds are less active, and gender comparison has shown that the most inactive are girls in all three strata. Nonetheless, among girls, those who report doing physical exercise most regularly are the 13-year-olds (39%); • during school days 12% of 11-year olds, 20.3% of 13-year olds and 19% of 15- year olds watch television for more than 4 hours a day. The numbers increase if weekends are taken into account; in relation to the gender difference, only in the 11-year old stratum does the phenomenon have a strictly male tendency - in the other two strata there are no significantly statistical differences; • the largest percentage of 15-year olds report doing homework during the week (35.4%), followed by 13-year olds (32.5%) and 11-year olds (30.7%); those who spend 3 or more hours doing this type of sedentary activity are notably girls, and the rather large gap between boys and girls tends to increase with age; at weekends, the estimates decrease in all three strata of the sample. Comments Data comparing exercise carried out in the last 7 days and during a normal week show little variation, and this indicates reliable answers to the questionnaires. In relation to sedentary activity in front of the TV, at weekends the rate increases more in the first two strata. Maybe 15-year olds have other things to do such as going to the discoteque on Sunday afternoon, or other forms of enjoyment which do not involve huge amounts of time in front of the TV screen. Girls are more interested in homework than boys, in particular 13-year old and 15-year olds.