Prevalence of physical inactivity according to behavior and sociodemographic factors in a rural population, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Introduction:  Recent studies show regular physical activity as the major action to prevent the increase of the global burden of non-transmittable diseases. However, physical inactivity has been presented as a modern behavior and its prevalence has been risen widely. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicates 2 millions of deaths related to such condition.
Methods: Cross-sectional study was carried out to estimate physical inactivity prevalences according to behavior and sociodemographic factors in 261 residents (18 to 98 years old) in rural population from Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Throughout a questionnaire, physical activity was evaluated in all domains: occupational, domestic, commuting and leisure-time. Sedentary behavior was defined as the total physical activity below 150 minutes/week.
Results: Women shown higher prevalences of low HDL-c, overweight, obesity and larger waist circumference (p<0,05). Men work more, have increased prevalences of smoking and drinking alcohol (p<0,05) and consume additional fat meat (p<0,001). In general, 13% of individuals were sedentary, higher in elderly (32.2%), illiterates (26.6%) and non- workers (20.5%). Work-related  physical inactiveness prevalences were higher  in women (23,0%), higher literacy  level (20,0%) and non-smokers (14,5%); at the household domain, among men (55.2%), and workers (52.2%). Women (93.7%), illiterates (97.5%) and elderly (94.9%) were more physical inactive in leisure-time.  Commuting domain shown women (78.7%) and the elderly (76.3%) as less actives. All these results had p<0,05.
Conclusion:  Sedentary behavior was related to gender, schooling, age and occupational status.  Prevalences were high as those found in urban area and other rural areas.