Parent and school modelling factors associated with physical activity practices among adolescents of Devchuli municipality

Background: Regular physical activity helps children and adolescents to remain healthy and fit, improve muscular and cardiorespiratory fitness, have psycho-social benefits. The Global School Based Student Health Survey of Nepal 2015 shows that only 15.1% of adolescents of age 13-17 years were physically active daily. Identification of these factors that affects level of physical activity among adolescents of Nepal and its better understanding will aid in promoting physically active lifestyle and designing effective interventions. Methods: The cross sectional study was conducted to determine the factors associated with physical activity among adolescents of 15 to 19 years in Devchuli Municipality. Physical activity level of adolescents were measured along with parental and school/teacher modelling variables. Results: The study shows that most of the participants (68.8%) had moderate level of physical activity while 28.8% of participants were doing high level of physical activity. Only 7% of females were doing high level of physical activities compared to 53% males doing the high level of physical activities. The result showed that male participants were more likely to do high level of physical activity (AOR=16, 95% CI=7.3-33.7) than female participants. Similarly, the participants from other than Hindu religion (which consists Buddhist and Christian) were more likely to do high level of physical activity (AOR=6.5, 95% CI=1.8-23.5) than the participants from Hindu religion. Conclusions: The study showed that male participants and the participants from other than Hindu religion (which consists Buddhist and Christian) were more likely to do high level of physical than their counterparts.