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Introduction
The benefits of promoting physical activity among children and youth
are well established. First, a substantial amount of evidence shows
the potential for preventing cardiovascular diseases and all-cause
mortality in a population by increasing the physical activity and
physical fitness in less active groups. Second, adolescence is believed
to be an important period for learning health-related behavior patterns,
including physical activity, that will carry over into adulthood (1).
Several social and environmental factors such as parental and peer
influences, gender differences, body perception, urbanization, self-esteem,
school performance, race, smoking, and drinking have been shown to
effect physical activity patterns (2-9). However, there are no published
data on the relationship between physical activity and living conditions
or parental education.
Physical activity consists of at least four interrelated dimensions:
type of activity (e.g., walking, swimming, playing tennis), frequency
of participation, duration per episode, and the intensity or vigor
with which the activity is performed. Studies focusing on different
dimensions can lead to different descriptions of activity patterns
in a given population. In this article, we analyzed the patterns of
participation in physical activity by including all dimensions according
to the method proposed by Fuchs et al. (10).
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We conducted this study in order to obtain
the baseline data for the physical activity behaviors of adolescents
in Edirne, a 185000 population city in western Turkey, and evaluate
the influence of different factors.
Materials and Methods
From the 28 middle and high schools in Edirne, with a total population
of 12923 students, 883 (6.83%) were sampled using a stratified method
according to the number of students in each school. A written consent
was obtained from the parents of the students. The average age of
participants was 15.00 ± 1.80 years. Demographic characteristics
of the participants are presented in Table 1. Two groups were defined
according to age: early adolescents (=15 years) and late adolescents
(>15 years). A 32-item self-report questionnaire was applied to
each student under supervision of the trained researchers to ascertain
exercise, and demographic information. Additionally, students were
asked to complete scales measuring
 
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