PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND ITS RELATION TO PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the physical activity performed by students, its frequency and intensity and how this physical activity may relate to their physical fitness and academic success.
Methods: The sample consisted of 297 undergraduate students from 20 to 22 years of age (mean 20.5 ± 0.7) from the University of Maribor. The type and frequency of physical activity in which they engaged were measured using the IPAQ. Academic performance was defined as regular admission to the second year of study. Students’ physical fitness was determined using Eurofit and FitnessGram tests.
Results: Analysis of the IPAQ questionnaire shows that the majority of students reported being physically active in the afternoon. Nevertheless, according to the WHO’s guidelines, 79.8 % of students were insufficiently physically active. The results show that males performed better than females in nearly all of the physical fitness tests. Periods of two to three hours of weekly physical activity were positively associated with academic success, while four hours or more resulted in no contribution.
Conclusion: Correlations between physical activity and physical fitness were primarily found in higher duration physical activity and in higher frequency of vigorous exercise. The results of this study are similar to those of other countries regarding the insufficient physical activity of young people. The influence of physical activity on academic success was analyzed by binary logistic regression. The majority of students were academically successful and regularly admitted to the second year of study (86.5 %).

Full text

ANNALES KINESIOLOGIAE • 9 • 2018 • 2
89
Original scientic article UDC: 796.011.1:378.011.3-052
received: 2018-11-07
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS AND
ITS RELATION TO PHYSICAL FITNESS AND ACADEMIC
SUCCESS
Silvester LIPOŠEK 1, Jurij PLANINŠEC 2, Bojan LESKOŠEK 3,
Aleksander PAJTLER 4
1University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Slovenia
2University of Maribor, Faculty of Education, Slovenia
3University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Sport, Slovenia
4University of Maribor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Transportation Engineering and
Architecture, Slovenia
Corresponding Author:
Silvester LIPOŠEK
University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Smetanova ulica 17, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
Phone: +386 31 651 868
E-mail: silvester.liposek@um.si
ABSTRACT
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the physical activity per-
formed by students, its frequency and intensity and how this physical activity may relate

Methods: The sample consisted of 297 undergraduate students from 20 to 22 years
   
-
-

Results: Analysis of the IPAQ questionnaire shows that the majority of students re-

 
-
riods of two to three hours of weekly physical activity were positively associated with

Conclusion: -
marily found in higher duration physical activity and in higher frequency of vigorous


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Silvester LIPOŠEK, Jurij PLANINŠEC, Bojan LESKOŠEK, Aleksander PAJTLER: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ..., 89–104
ANNALES KINESIOLOGIAE • 9 • 2018 • 2
-


Keywords:-

TELESNA DEJAVNOST ŠTUDENTOV IN NJENA POVEZAVA S
TELESNIM FITNESOM IN ŠTUDIJSKIM USPEHOM

Namen: Cilj raziskave je bil ugotoviti pogostost in intenzivnost izvedene telesne
aktivnosti študentov ter kako ta telesna aktivnost vpliva na njihovo telesno kondicijo in

Metode: V vzorec merjencev je bilo zajetih 297 dodiplomskih študentov in študentk

-


Rezultati: 
     
       
     
    


Zaključek: -

     -
-
         

Ključne besede

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INTRODUCTION
Past research studies conrm that regular physical activity performed by children,
adolescents and adults has a positive effect on health (Boreham & Roddoch, 2001; Pori
et al., 2013) and reduces the risk of developing various diseases (Hallal, Victora, Aze-
vedo & Wells, 2006; Warburton, Nicol & Bredin, 2006). Generally, physical tness and
physical activity excerpt a positive impact on perception and concentration (Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010; Trudeau & Shephard, 2008). Additionally,
consistent physical activity has a positive inuence on self-esteem (Crocker, Sabiston,
Kowalski, McDonough & Kowalski, 2006; Dunton, Jamner & Cooper, 2003; More-
no, Cervelló & Moreno, 2008; Weiss & Williams, 2004), while lowering anxiety and
stress (Dolenc, 2015; Flook, Repetti & Ullman, 2005). However, it must be taken into
account that vigorous physical activity is time-consuming, requires recovery and the-
refore might reduce learning and studying time. The extended use of the internet and
computer games (i.e., screen-time) poses a huge threat to a healthy lifestyle; therefore,
only a small proportion of adolescents regularly participate in physical activity (Aslan
& Arslan Cansever, 2012; Madell & Muncer, 2004).
Many studies have attempted to identify a relationship between physical activity
and academic achievement. However, these studies have had diverse and even contra-
dictory conclusions: a signicant positive correlation between the duration of physical
activity and academic success (Coe, Pivarnik, Womack, Reeves & Malina, 2006; Kim
et al., 2003), small correlation between them (Daley & Ryan, 2000; Sallis et al., 1999)
and a negative correlation (Tremblay, Inman & Williams, 2000). Research has also
established that physical activity itself has many positive effects (better self-image,
self-esteem, behavioural changes, better motivation in other areas, etc.), all of which
inuence academic success (Trudeau & Shephard, 2008).
In the literature, the FitnessGram assessment was primarily used in the USA (Ren-
frow, Caputo, Otto, Farley & Eveland-Sayers, 2011; Shriver et al., 2011). In Europe,
for example, tness tests were usually combined with FitnessGram and Eurot items
alongside some national recommendations (Aires et al., 2010). Recent results of he-
alth-related tness tests on children show that results are progressively worsening and
are accompanied by growing obesity and low physical activity (Shriver et al., 2011).
A comparison between obesity and health-related tness is easier to conduct because
the measures are well-dened, whereas physical activity can be measured by various
means, for example, by weekly duration, frequency, intensity or variety.
The study of physical activity of the university student population is especially
interesting, as in Slovenia and several other countries (Cardinal, Sorensen & Cardinal,
2012; Hardman, 2008), physical education is no longer a mandatory subject at tertiary
level, as it is in secondary schools. Therefore, it is important to establish if one of the
most important objectives of mandatory physical education, i.e., educating students to
accept physical activity as one of their regular life-long habits, has actually been full-
led and if the decision to drop physical education from university curricula, a decision

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made several years ago, has resulted in a large proportion of students becoming insuf-
ciently active or even inactive.
The aim of our study was twofold: 1) to explore the current state of physical activity
and the physical tness of university students and their anthropometric data and 2) to
explore the relationship between physical activity, physical tness and the academic
success of university students. There has been little research on the effect of physical
activity on academic performance in Slovenia. On the basis of research results elsew-
here, we assume that our study will demonstrate the positive effects of physical activity
on academic performance.
METHODS
Sample
The sample consisted of second-year undergraduate students from fourteen facul-
ties of the University of Maribor. Approximately 10 % of all full-time second-year
undergraduate students, between 20 and 22 (mean 20.5 ± 0.7) years of age, agreed to
participate in the study (n = 297, 114 or 38.4 % males and 183 or 61.6 % females).
Data Collection Procedure
To collect information about students’ physical activities in the week before tness
testing, we used the IPAQ questionnaire (Bailey, Mckay, Mirwald, Crocker & Faulkner,
1999) with certain modications (questions about the time of day and the type of physi-
cal activities were added). The time aspect of physical activity execution is divided as
follows: pre-noon physical activities happen before 12 o’clock, afternoon physical ac-
tivities are performed between 12 and 6 pm, while evening physical activities are exe-
cuted after 6 pm and later. Physical tness testing took place at the University Sports
Centre and was carried out by staff trained in measurement procedures. The two-day
testing was open to all second-year students at the University of Maribor. Participation
was voluntary; all of the participants gave written consent. Individual tness tests were
carried out at stations set up as a polygon. The order of tness tests and conducted me-
asurements were the same for all participants. We administered the following twelve
physical tness test items to measure motor performance FitnessGram (Meredith &
Welk, 2010), EuroFit (Topend Sports, 2016) and national recommendations SLOFit
(Strel et al., 1996): plate tapping test (20”), polygon backwards, the wall toss test,
standing forward bend and reach exibility test, sit and reach exibility test, standing
shoulder rotation exibility test, standing long jump test, sit-ups in 60” test, exed arm
hang test, the amingo balance test, 20-meter sprint and the 20-meter shuttle run. The
20-meter shuttle run results were converted to VO2 max volumes according to the in-
structions set out by Ramsbottom et al. (1988). The following anthropometric measures

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Silvester LIPOŠEK, Jurij PLANINŠEC, Bojan LESKOŠEK, Aleksander PAJTLER: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ..., 89–104
were taken (Topend Sports, 2016): body height, body weight, upper arm circumference,
thigh circumference and abdominal circumference. To estimate the amount of subcuta-
neous fat, we measured each participant’s upper arm (triceps) skinfold, thigh skinfold
(suprapatellar), abdomen skinfold (abdominal and suprailiac skinfold) and back skin-
fold.
The weekly duration of physical activity (number of hours of physical activity in
the previous week), frequency of vigorous physical activity (number of sessions of vi-
gorous physical activity lasting at least 15 minutes in the previous week), frequency of
moderate physical activity (number of sessions of moderate physical activity lasting at
least 15 minutes in the previous week), frequency of low effort physical activity (num-
ber of sessions of low effort physical activity lasting at least 15 minutes in the previous
week) and sports club membership were used as indicators of physical activity. Criteria
suggested by Janssen (2001) were employed to measure the intensity of physical acti-
vity (vigorous, moderate, low effort).
The dependent variable of academic success was dened as the regular admission
to the second year of study (coded as 1 if a student was regularly admitted from the rst
to the second year of study and 0 otherwise).
Data Analysis
The collected data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 20.0 software (IBM Corp., Ar-
monk, NY). Physical tness test results were compared by gender using an independent
samples t-test or Mann-Whitney U test in case the Shapiro–Wilks test did not conrm
the normal distribution of data. To determine the relationship between physical activity
and physical tness tests, Spearman’s correlation coefcient was used. The inuence
of physical activity on academic success was calculated by a binary logistic regression.
The odds ratio, 95 % condence interval and P value were calculated for each variable
included in the logistic model. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically signicant.
RESULTS
Analysis of the IPAQ questionnaire results shows that the majority of students re-
ported being physically active in the afternoon (from 12 to 6 pm), as 161 (54.2 %)
reported being active 2 to 3 times a week or more; in the evening (after 6 pm), this
gure was 94 (31.6 %), and in the morning (before noon), 43 (14.5 %) reported being
physically active. Eleven (3.7 %) students were completely inactive during the previous
week. Figure 1 also shows that males and females reported a similar physical activity
pattern during the week.

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
For vigorous exercise of at least 15 minutes, 79 (26.6 %) students reported no enga-
gement, and 82 (27.6 %) students exercised vigorously only once a week. For moderate
exercise of at least 15 minutes, 106 (35.7 %) students reported exercising once a week,
while 62 (20.9 %) reported never exercising at this intensity level. 78 (26.3%) students
engaged in exercises requiring low effort once a week, while 94 (31.6 %) students re-
ported no engagement (Figure 2). Based on the criteria set forth in the WHO’s guideli-
nes (WHO, 2004), 237 (79.8 %) students were inactive or insufciently active because
they were not physically active for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity, or at least
75 minutes of vigorous-intensity, exercise throughout the week. Among these students,
approximately half expressed a lack of free time and being overburdened with study as
the reasons for their inactivity.


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The anthropometric data results in Table 1 show that male students were higher,
heavier and had a higher body mass index. Males also had larger circumferences and
lower skinfolds with the exception of the abdominal skinfold. There were also no diffe-
rences in age between the groups.

Males
n=114
Females
n=183 p-value*
mean SD mean SD
Age (years) 20.4 0.7 20.5 0.7 ns
Body height (cm) 180.7 6.7 166.2 5.9 <0.001
Body weight (kg) 80.0 10.5 64.0 12.3 <0.001
Body mass index (kg/m2) 24.5 3.0 23.1 4.3 <0.001
Upper arm circumference (mm) 305.1 27.7 272.8 34.5 <0.001
Thigh circumference (mm) 576.1 44.8 558.9 60.5 0.006
Abdominal circumference (mm) 871.7 83.7 824.5 119.4 <0.001
Upper arm skinfold (mm) 10.5 4.9 17.0 8.0 <0.001#
Back skinfold (mm) 13.9 5.8 16.3 8.9 0.006#
Thigh skinfold (mm) 18.0 9.0 24.3 8.7 <0.001#
Abdominal skinfold (mm) 18.7 8.5 19.2 8.4 ns#
Suprailiac skinfold (mm) 17.4 8.2 20.4 7.9 0.002#
* independent samples t-test; # Mann-Whitney U test; ns = not signicant
The results in Table 2 show that males performed statistically signicantly better
than females in most of the twelve physical tness tests, except in three exibility tests
(Standing forward bend and reach, Sit and reach, Shoulder rotation), where female
students performed better than males and in Flamingo balance test where the difference
is not signicant.

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
Males
n=114
Females
n=183
p-va-
lue*
m s m s
Plate tapping 20« (count) 48.9 4.9 46.2 4.7 <0.001
Polygon backwards (seconds) 9.0 1.6 11.9 2.2 <0.001
Wall toss test (count) 22.9 4.9 15.9 4.7 <0.001
Standing forward bend and reach (cm) 46.6 7.8 49.7 7.3 0.001
Sit and reach (cm) 22.6 7.9 26.6 7.3 <0.001
Shoulder rotation (cm) 109.4 15.5 88.5 16.7 <0.001
Standing long jump (cm) 225.9 24.1 161.8 22.5 <0.001
Sit-ups 60” (count) 49.8 9.2 41.1 9.1 <0.001
Flexed arm hang test (seconds) 24.6 17.0 11.5 13.6 <0.001#
Flamingo balance test (count) 9.3 5.0 9.7 4.7 ns #
20-m sprint (seconds) 3.2 0.2 4.1 0.4 <0.001
20-m shuttle run (VO2 max, ml/kg/min) 38.2 6.4 27.4 1.4 <0.001
M = mean; SD = standard deviation; * independent samples t-test; # Mann-Whitney U test;
ns = not signicant
To nd out how physical activity correlates with physical tness, we analyzed three
different parameters describing the extent of physical activity: a) weekly duration of
physical activity; b) the weekly frequency of vigorous exercise lasting at least 15 mi-
nutes and c) weekly frequency of moderate exercise lasting at least 15 minutes. As the
signicant differences between males and females in physical tness were found, we
decided to analyze this relation separately, by gender. The results in Table 3 provided
several signicant relationships between the duration and intensity of physical activity
and tness with primarily weak correlation coefcients.

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    -

weekly duration of
physical activity in
hours
weekly frequency of
vigorous exercise la-
sting at least 15 min
weekly frequency of
moderate exercise la-
sting at least 15 min
Males
n=114
r**
Females
n=183
r**
Males
n=114
r**
Females
n=183
r**
Males
n=114
r**
Females
n=183
r**
Plate tapping 0.20# 0.11 0.26* 0.13 -0.12 -0.03
Polygon backwards -0.14 -0.15# -0.19# -0.18# 0.08 0.04
Wall toss test 0.36* 0.17# 0.28* 0.12 0.18 -0.09
Standing forward
bend and reach 0.11 0.15# 0.02 0.14 0.00 0.04
Sit and reach 0.13 0.13 -0.04 0.04 0.11 0.06
Shoulder rotation -0.03 0.00 0.00 -0.10 0.13 -0.10
Standing long jump 0.21# 0.14 0.26* 0.19* -0.03 -0.01
Pull-up 60”0.24* 0.17# 0.32* 0.21* -0.05 0.11
Flexed arm hang test 0.25* 0.30* 0.25* 0.23* 0.11 0.21*
Flamingo balance
test -0.20# -0.10 -0.14 -0.19* 0.05 0.02
20-m sprint -0.06 -0.22* -0.14 -0.22* 0.02 -0.08
20-m shuttle run 0.29* 0.23* 0.37* 0.28* -0.01 0.00
r** = Spearman’s correlation coefcient; * = p < 0.001; # = p < 0.05
The inuence of physical activity on academic success was analyzed by binary lo-
gistic regression (Table 4). The majority of students were academically successful and
regularly admitted to the second year of study (86.5n%). Two or three hours of weekly
physical activity had a positive inuence on regular admission to the second year of stu-
dy (OR = 3.37, 95 %, CI = 1.18–9.62, P = 0.024 and OR = 4.37, 95 % CI = 1.44–13.24,
P = 0.009, respectively). Neither vigorous physical activity nor sports club membership
had any inuence on academic success (OR = 0.55, 95 % CI = 0.21–1.43, P = 0.220 and
OR = 0.81, 95 % CI = 0.30–2.18, P = 0.674, respectively). Regarding the anthropome-

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tric data, being overweight (as indicated by body mass index) also had no inuence on
academic success (OR = 0.72, 95 % CI = 0.31–1.69, P = 0.452).

Regular admission to the
2nd year of study OR (95% CI) p-value
No
n=40 (%)
Yes
n=257 (%)
Weekly PA
1 hour or less 11 (27.5) 30 (11.7) 1.00 (reference)
2 hours 8 (20.0) 64 (24.9) 3.37 (1.18 – 9.62) 0.024
3 hours 7 (17.5) 75 (29.2) 4.37 (1.44 – 13.24) 0.009
4 hours 5 (12.5) 37 (14.4) 3.54 (0.99 – 12.59) 0.051
5 hours or more 9 (22.5) 51 (19.8) 3.26 (0.86 – 12.45) 0.083
Vigorous PA
2x weekly or less 28 (70.0) 199 (77.4) 1.00 (reference)
3x weekly or more 12 (30.0) 58 (22.6) 0.55 (0.21 – 1.43) 0.220
Moderate PA
2x weekly or less 34 (85.0) 208 (80.9) 1.00 (reference)
3x weekly or more 6 (15.0) 49 (19.1) 1.09 (0.38 – 3.11) 0.875
Low effort PA
2x weekly or less 31 (77.5) 179 (69.6) 1.00 (reference)
3x weekly or more 9 (22.5) 78 (30.4) 1.18 (0.51 – 2.76) 0.700
Sports club membership
No 30 (75.0) 206 (80.2) 1.00 (reference)
Yes 10 (25.0) 51 (19.8) 0.81 (0.30 – 2.18) 0.674
Body mass index
<25 (normal) 27 (67.5) 187 (72.8) 1.00 (reference)
≥ 25 (overweight) 9 (22.5) 51 (19.8) 0.72 (0.31 – 1.69) 0.452
≥ 30 (obese) 4 (10.0) 19 (7.4) 0.56 (0.17 – 1.88) 0.349
Gender
Male 16 (40.0) 98 (38.1) 1.00 (reference)
Female 24 (60.0) 159 (61.9) 0.94 (0.43 – 2.03) 0.868
OR = odds ratio, 95%CI = 95% condence interval, PA = physical activity

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DISCUSSION
International studies have shown that the percentage of physically inactive students
varies from country to country: 23 % in Western Europe and the U.S., 30 % in Central
and Eastern Europe, 39 % in Mediterranean countries, 42 % in the countries of the
Asia-Pacic region and 44 % in developing countries (Haase, Steptoe, Sallis & Wardle,
2004). Guthold published data on levels of physical inactivity in 51 countries, most of
which were low or middle income, and observed several trends (Guthold, Ono, Strong,
Chatterji, & Morabia, 2008). Globally, with the exception of several Eastern European
countries, women were more likely to be physically inactive than men. Few studies
have explored the reasons for decreasing levels of physical activity in developing co-
untries. Ng et al. (2009) estimate that between 1991 and 2006, average weekly physical
activity fell by 32 per cent. Globally, around 23 % of adults aged 18 and over were not
active enough in 2010 (men 20 % and women 27 %). In high-income countries, 26 % of
men and 35 % of women were insufciently physically active, as compared to 12 % of
men and 24 % of women in low-income countries (World Health Organization, 2016).
The results of our study showed a more positive picture as only 7.4 % of students
reported not being involved in vigorous or moderate exercise; however, 26.6 % of stu-
dents reported not performing any vigorous exercise. The results of our study on the
physical activity of students may therefore be considered similar to previous studies.
With respect to the WHO recommendations (World Health Organization, 2004), with
the time component of adequate physical activity included (150 minutes of moderate-
-intensity, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity throughout the week), our results
are worse, showing that only 20.2 % of students reported adequate physical activity.
For example, this percentage was similar to a national survey conducted by Casper-
sen, Fereira, and Curran (2000), who found that only 25 % of Americans reach the re-
commended level of physical activity. Regarding organized physical activity, our study
showed that only 20.5 % of the students were active in a sports club. The percentage
of students active in sports clubs is close to the gure in Croatia (23 %) (Andrijašević,
Paušić, Bavčević & Ciliga, 2005), although another study has suggested that only 16 %
of Slovene students are actually active in sports clubs (Golja & Robič, 2014).
In Sweden, however, it was reported that the percentage of young people enga-
ged in sport clubs is increasing, as 66 % of boys and 53 % of girls were active in
them (Westerståhl, Barnekow-Berkvist, Hedberg & Jansson, 2003), a percentage that
is considerably higher than the levels in Slovenia or Croatia. Our results showed that
students were under-active, considering that a healthy adult requires a minimum physi-
cal activity time of at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week (such as fast
walking, cycling on at terrain, or even mowing the lawn) or 75 minutes of vigorous
exercise (running, swimming, rough terrain biking, playing basketball or tennis) (Jans-
sen, 2001), where only approximately 20.2 % of students reported sufciently frequent
engagement.
Since the results of the physical tness tests indicated signicant differences betwe-
en males and females, we decided to calculate the correlation between physical activity
and tness tests results by gender. The results show that in this gender comparison,

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ANNALES KINESIOLOGIAE • 9 • 2018 • 2
there is on average a smaller share of women who take part in no physical activity, but
a higher percentage who take part in physical activity once or two to three times per
week. The study demonstrates that male students outperformed their female counter-
parts in almost all motor tests except the amingo, which measures balance, where no
signicant difference was found and in exibility, where female students performed
better than male.
The second purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between the repor-
ted extent of weekly physical activity and physical tness. In most cases, especially in
overall weekly duration of physical activity and weekly frequency of vigorous exercise
lasting at least 15 minutes, physical activity is positively correlated to physical tness,
however most correlation coefcients were low and, in some cases, also not statistically
signicant. Even weaker correlation was found between weekly frequency of moderate
exercise lasting at least 15 minutes and physical tness. The only coefcients excee-
ding 0.3 were those between overall duration of physical activity and the frequency of
vigorous exercise with the wall toss test, pull-up 60” and 20-m shuttle run among male
students. Similarly, Renfrow et al. (2011) found that males who played more sports
achieved signicantly better FitnessGram overall scores. In a longitudinal study, Aires
et al. (2010) found that an increased physical activity index contributed to improved
physical tness. Associations between physical activity and physical tness tests, as
documented in available studies such as Martinez-Vizcaino & Sanchez-Lopez, (2008),
Fang et al. (2017) show the positive effects of increased physical activity for improved
health-related physical tness in children and young people (Martínez-Vizcaíno & Sán-
chez-López, 2008; Malina, Bouchard & Bar-Or, 2004).
Our last research aim was to explore whether the extent of physical activity inuences
academic success, which was dened as regular admission from the rst to the second
year of study. In previous researches, physical activity has not clearly been associated
with academic performance (Daley & Ryan, 2000; Sallis et al., 1999; Tremblay et al.,
2000). Our results provided some evidence that higher duration of physical activity may
positively inuence academic performance, which was similar to Coe et al. (2006), Kim
et al. (2003) California Department of Education (2001), Sibley & Eitner (2003), Castelli,
Hillman, Buck & Erwin (2007) and Trost (2016). On the other hand, our results regarding
comprehensive vigorous physical activity or sports club membership provided no proof
of their positive inuence on academic success. This might suggest that two to three hour
weekly recreational physical activity is positive for one’s academic success, while spor-
ting physical activity is probably too exhausting and time- consuming.
Study Limitations
Measuring weekly physical activity among the population is difcult because its
duration, intensity, frequency, and type of exercise performed are seldom recorded.
Physical activity is usually performed with less consistency, more often in some we-
eks, in others less, sometimes physical activity is performed on weekends, sometimes

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Silvester LIPOŠEK, Jurij PLANINŠEC, Bojan LESKOŠEK, Aleksander PAJTLER: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS ..., 89–104
during the week, etc. Therefore, participants face difculties in reliability and reporting
every detail of their weekly physical activity. To reduce bias, we gathered data about
physical activity with several measures: weekly duration in hours, frequency by inten-
sity of exercise (vigorous and moderate), larger sample, the greater number of faculties
and different level of exercise (low effort PA, moderate PA, vigorous PA).
CONCLUSIONS
This study indicates that the duration of physical activity has only a limited in-
uence on the academic performance of undergraduate students. Two to three hour
weekly recreational physical activity proved benecial, while comprehensive vigo-
rous exercise and sports club participation did not. According to the literature, we
expected stronger correlations between the reported extent of weekly physical activi-
ty and tness test performance. Similarly, we did not expect such negative / bad re-
sults about the extent of physical activity among students, as they in general reported
physical activity below international recommendations. In Slovenia, the number of
physically active students would most certainly increase if each faculty had adequate
sports facilities and equipment which students could use in their leisure time free of
charge.
Both society in general and individuals can take action to increase physical activity.
In 2013, WHO Member States agreed to a target of reducing insufcient physical acti-
vity by 10 % by 2025 and included strategies to achieve this goal in the „Global Action
Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 2013-2020“. Slo-
venia should also adhere to this action plan.
FUNDING
The study had no accessional nancial support.
ETHICAL APPROVAL
Written informed consent was obtained from all tested students
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