Sociodemographic and socioeconomic variations in leisure time physical activity in a sample of Hungarian youth.

OBJECTIVES

The main goal of the present study is to detect the relationship between youth's leisure time physical activity and a set of sociodemographic (age, gender, family stucture) and socioeconomic variables (SES and parental schooling).

METHODS

Data were collected among Hungarian youth (middle and high school students, N = 1662) aged between 10-20 years using a self-administered questionnaire.

RESULTS

Our findings did not indicate gender differences during the years of middle school, whereas gender differences became significant during the years of high school. In multivariate analyses, parental schooling played a decisive role in youth's physical activity, wheres SES self-assessment did not remain significant.

CONCLUSION

These findings provide some useful information on characteristics of the target groups for health education programs.