PHYSICAL ACTIVITY PRACTICE AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: comparative study of children and adolescents of the municipality of Santa Cruz do Sul – RS

Resumen

The aim of this study was to verify possible differences in the levels of physical activity related to the socio-economic conditions of schoolchildren in the municipality of Santa Cruz do Sul-RS. It is of transversal-descriptive character, and its subjects are 350 schoolchildren, aged 7 to 17, of both genders. For data collection a previously validated and adapted questionnaire was used, while the chi-quadrat-test was used for statistical analysis. Significant statistical differences were detected in the manner of locomotion, with regard to the school level and socio-economic status, for both genders. The results showed that students from urban areas and of inferior socio-economic levels showed more active in this respect. In the practice of physical activities, the results pointed to a reverse relation of this variable with the socio-economic level. At school level, a prevalence of inactive subjects from the rural area was observed. The difference in the form of locomotion and the physical activities of the evaluated schoolchildren, both at school level and at their socio-economic level, demonstrates different profiles of schoolchildren, which should be considered in future intervention programs.