Probl Hig Epidemiol 2018, 99(3): 252-258en

Characteristics of sedentary forms of spending leisure time among adolescents in Krakow

Agata Skop-Lewandowska ^1/, Elżbieta Sochacka-Tatara ^2/, Joanna Zając ^1/

1/ Chair of Hygiene and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland
2/ Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Krakow, Poland

Summary
Introduction. Modern adolescents devote a significant part of their free time to sedentary activities, mainly involving the use of electronic media, participation in mass culture, entertainment focused on passive reception of the content, while minimizing active creative, educational and cultural activities.
Aim. Assessing the amount of free time spent passively and its description among young people of high school age.
Materials & methods. An anonymous questionnaire was presented to 1662 students from 21 randomly selected secondary schools in Krakow for them to be filled out independently. The questions included concerned forms of spending free time, dividing these between activities during the week and at weekends, as well as in summer and winter. The statistical analysis used the Chi² test, the Mann-Whitney test for nonparametric variables, and for more complex analyses the ANOVA test and the post-hoc Hochberg gt2 test.
Results. The surveyed adolescents spent on average 27.8 hours a week on sedentary behaviour in summer and 29.4 hours a week in the winter. Regardless of the season, the respondents spent most of their time in front of the computer and TV. In terms of computer activities, it was found that statistically, girls showed a significantly greater interest in using the Internet to acquire general knowledge, while boys used it for playing computer games and watching movies. In addition, girls claimed a greater interest in reading books and magazines (4.5 hours a week) compared with boys (3 hours a week).
Conclusion. There is an alarming need to implement organized promotion of active forms of relaxation and recreation among young people.

Key words:  adolescents, sedentary activities, lifestyle, leisure time