Abstract

Objective: To determine, within ten years the physical activity level and accumulation of sitting time among medical students. Methods: The sample consisted of 186 third year students of Medical School in 2000-2001 (Group I) and 2011 (Group II), with a mean age of 21.23 +/- 1.38. The data on the level of physical activity and sitting time were collected through questionnaire IPAQ (short and long versions). The questionnaires were administered individually and were self-completed. Statistical analysis: The results were reported as frequency and percentage for the level of physical activity and mean and standard deviation for the accumulation of time sitting. The comparison was made using the chi-square and t test for independent samples, and the significance level was p.05. Results: In the ten-year period a marked and significant decrease of 27.4% was found among subjects who met the recommendations in Group I (75.2%) compared to those achieved in group II (47.8%). Sitting time showed no significant differences, and means were = 8.92 and = 8.72 hours for weekdays and = 7.27 and = 7.70 hours for the weekend days. Conclusion: After ten years, the medical students had lower levels of physical activity with no change in the accumulation of sitting time.