ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Physical inactivity burdens society by increasing the costs of medical care and loss of productivity, and appears among the four major risk factors for chronic diseases.
Objective:
To identify the factors associated with physical inactivity, as assessed by metabolic equivalent rate (MET), among teachers of a public university.
Methods:
Cross-sectional study with probabilistic sample including 163 workers. In addition to physical inactivity (<450 MET.min/week), we evaluated age, sex, marital status, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, health and stress perception, diabetes, hypertension, low back pain, depression, heart disease and consumption of fruits/vegetables/legumes, unhealthy fat, soft drinks and salt. Prevalence ratios and confidence intervals (95%) were estimated by Poisson regression.
Results:
The physically inactive participants had a lower intake of fruits/vegetables/legumes, higher alcohol consumption and worse perception of health.
Conclusion:
We suggest that physical inactivity is associated with a higher profile of health risk and that the simultaneous occurrence of these factors should be considered in the planning of health programs for groups of workers and general population.
Keywords:
motor activity; exercise; risk factors; workers