| dc.description.abstract | Background
Nepal is rapidly urbanizing and along with it, the lifestyle of people is also changing. The
incidence of obesity is uprising due to lack of physical activities, sedentary lifestyle and
consumption of unhealthy high calorie diet. Even kids are suffering from issues of overweight
and obesity. Hence, they should be encouraged to exercise and do physical activities on regular
basis. According to WHO, children and youth aged 5-17 should perform at least 60 minutes
moderate or vigorous physical activities. It is known that children are influenced by their peers in
every aspect of their lives. Mostly these influences were viewed negatively as peer pressure.
However, this could be positive and help to develop healthy habits among them.
Methods
202 participants, 56.9% were female and 43.1% male, were included in the study. The dependent
variable was physical activity status. Mean physical activity duration was 64.92 minutes.
Multivariate logistic regression was performed to determine the association of independent
variable with physical activity status.
Results
Mean physical activity duration was 64.92 minutes for the study. After adjusting for covariates,
physical activity status of children was associated with number of friends (OR=0.93, 95%
CI=0.88, 0.99) and not with total hour spent with friends (OR=1.097, 95% CI=0.54, 2.21).
Conclusions
In conclusion, number of hours spent with peers did not determine which the children will be
active or inactive. However, number of friends was showed statistically significant association
with dependent variable. Similarly play time and parental permission to make friends were found
to be facilitators for physical activity of children. | en_US |
