Prevalence (%) of compliance with physical activity guidelines according to different recommendations.

<p>R1: At least 150 min/week of MVPA. R2: At least 75 min/week of vigorous physical activity. R3: ≥ 30 min of MVPA for most days (5 days) of the week. R4: At least 20 min/day of vigorous physical activity for at least 3 days/week. R5: Less than 6 hours/day of sedentary time.</p

Patterns of objectively assessed physical activity and sedentary time: Are Nigerian health professional students complying with public health guidelines?

<div><p>Background</p><p>Understanding patterns of physical activity and sedentary time is important to effective population-wide primary prevention and control of non-communicable diseases. This study examined the patterns of objectively assessed physical activity and sedentary time, and the prevalence of compliance with physical activity guidelines according to different public health recommendations in a sub-population of health professional students in Nigeria.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A cross-sectional study was conducted among 102 health professional students (age = 19–34 years old, 43.1% women) of the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. Participants wore Actigraph accelerometers on their waist for minimum of 5 days/week to objectively measure intensity and duration of physical activity and sedentary time. Prevalence and demographic patterns of physical activity and sedentary time were examined using descriptive and inferential statistics.</p><p>Results</p><p>The students spent most time in sedentary activity (458.6 ± minutes/day, about 61% of daily time) and the least in vigorous-intensity activity (2.1 ± 4.4 minutes/day, about 0.3% of daily time). Sedentary time was higher among older than younger students (<i>P</i><0.038) and among medical laboratory science students than physiotherapy and nursing students (<i>P</i> = 0.046). Total physical activity was higher among nursing and medical students than medical laboratory science students (<i>P</i> = 0.041). Although, 85.3% of the students engaged in 150 minutes/week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, only 2.9% met the guideline of 75 minutes/week of vigorous intensity activity.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Prevalence of sedentary time was high while that of vigorous-intensity activity was very low among health professional students in Nigeria. Compliance with physical activity guidelines was mainly through accumulation of moderate intensity activity. The results suggest that age and academic programme may influence physical activity level and sedentary behaviour of health professional students in Nigeria. These findings provide preliminary evidence that could be used to inform the needs to develop interventions to improve and support active lifestyle behaviour among students in Nigerian universities.</p></div

Descriptive characteristics of the sample.

<p>Descriptive characteristics of the sample.</p

Overall objective physical activity and sedentary time estimates, and comparison by gender.

<p>Overall objective physical activity and sedentary time estimates, and comparison by gender.</p

Number (%) of participants classified as being sufficiently active according to physical activity guidelines by self-report (Hausa IPAQ-SF) and by accelerometry (Actigraph).

<p>PA: Physical activity.</p

Descriptive physical activity data from IPAQ and Actigraph, by sex, age, BMI and education; Mean (SD) and Interquartile Ranges.

*<p>- Significant difference between IPAQ-Actigraph tested for total PA, vigorous, moderate, Moderate-to-Vigorous PA, and sitting, respectively, using paired non parametric Wilcoxon test, <i>p</i><0.001;</p>†<p>- Cut-off values for sitting, moderate and vigorous were <100, 761–5724, and >5724 counts, respectively;</p>‡<p>_ Mean (±Standard deviation); <i>IQR</i>_ Interquartile range; BMI_ Body Mass Index; PA_ Physical.</p

Bland-Altman plot for min.day⁻¹ reported in total physical activity (PA) from the Actigraph and IPAQ.

<p>The mean error scores are illustrated by a solid horizontal line and the limits of agreement (±1.96 SD from the mean) are shown as dashed horizontal lines.</p

Bland-Altman plot for min.day⁻¹ reported for sitting time from the Actigraph and IPAQ.

<p>The mean error scores are illustrated by a solid horizontal line and the limits of agreement (±1.96 SD from the mean) are shown as dashed horizontal lines.</p

Descriptive characteristics of the sample.

<p>*- Significant difference exists between men and women at p<0.05.</p><p>SD- Standard Deviation.</p><p>BMI- Body Mass Index.</p

Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient (Rs) for Total Physical Activity and Time Spent in Physical Activity from IPAQ and Actigraph (n = 144).

†<p>_Cut-off values for sitting, moderate, and vigorous were <100, 1952–5734, and >5724, respectively.</p>‡<p>_IPAQ total PA (MET-min.d-1).</p>‡‡<p>_Actigraph Total Count (count.min-1).</p>*<p>_p<0.05;</p>**<p>_p<0.01.</p><p>MVPA: Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.</p