Profile and determinants of daily physical activity objectively assessed in university students

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to quantify and compare physical activity (PA) levels of university students from different fields of study, and to investigate its correlates. METHODS: 221 students (111 female, 20 [18-23] years), from different study fields were cross-sectionally assessed for daily PA (pedometer), cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m Shuttle Run Test-20mSRT), health-related quality of life (HRQoL), anxiety and depression symptoms. RESULTS: In general, 60% of the students were physically active (>8000 steps/day), presented good HRQoL and cardiorespiratory fitness, minimal symptoms of depression and moderate of anxiety. The highest PA level was observed in students from physical education and sport sciences, and the lowest in those from social sciences (median [IQR]: 9882 [8435-13510] versus 7593 [6070-9753] steps/day, respectively; P<0.01). Male students were more active than female. Steps/day was moderately associated with VO<inf>2</inf>max (r=0.42), VO<inf>2</inf>%pred (r=0.41) and distance achieved in the 20mSRT (r=0.43) (P<0.0001 for all), and weakly associated with anxiety symptoms (r=-0.20; P=0.004) and HRQoL domains (0.15<r<0.21; P<0.05). Distance achieved in the 20mSRT was the only determinant of steps/day (adjusted R2=0.22; P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Most university students can be considered as physically active. In these young adults, lower PA level correlates moderately with worse cardiorespiratory fitness and weakly with worse HRQoL and anxiety symptoms.