Health behavior in adolescents from different ethnic groups in the Municipality of Plovdiv, Bulgaria

• Published in: European journal of public health 2021-10, Vol.31 (Supplement_3)
• Main Authors: Petrova, G, Merdzhanova, E, Lalova, V, Angelova, P, Raycheva, R, Boyadjiev, N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Boys; Children; Computer & video games; Data analysis; Data processing; Electronic games; Ethnicity; Exercise; Girls; Health behavior; Health education; Minority & ethnic groups; Motor activity; Physical activity; Physical fitness; Public health; Romani people; Samples; Software; Sports; Statistical analysis; Statistical methods; Statistics; Teenagers
• ISSN: 1101-1262; 1464-360X
• DOI: 10.1093/eurpub/ckab165.400

Background The health behavior of modern adolescents is manifested by reduced motor activity. The aim of the present study is to analyze the attitude of adolescents to sports outside of school, as a preventive measure to limit their motor inactivity. Methods About 185 adolescents (11-15 years old) from three different ethnic groups in the period of May 2019 - July 2019, have been studied. Also have been developed and used specifically for this purpose an author's questionnaire for students, which contains open, closed, and mixed questions. For the statistical processing, we have used the data analysis software IBM SPSS Statistics v. 25. Results Approximately 2/3 of the surveyed boys from the three ethnic groups play sports outside of school. The girls playing sports out of school are mainly of Bulgarian ethnicity 52.27% and in less than Turkish 28.57% and Roma 23.08%. As the most common reason for not playing sports outside of school, the teenagers point out that there is no one to take them and to pick them up after training, especially for girls of Roma 45.45% and Turkish origin 33.33%. Although the distributions of values across children who have a computer or other electronic device (electronic game, smart phone) and who play sports outside of school are not equally likely (Related-Samples McNemar Change Test = 72.01, p = 0.000), the difference between proportions are not that high - 100% (n = 106) own device/s and play sports vs 93.7% (n = 74) own device/s and do not play sports. The distributions of values across children who play sports outside of school and the place where they spend the most time in front of a computer are not equally likely (Related-Samples McNemar Change Test = 47.71, p = 0.000). Conclusions Modern adolescents spend most of their time in front of digital devices, which is a prerequisite for reducing their physical activity. Key messages Encouraging sports outside of school is a factor for increasing physical activity in adolescents. The promotion of health in the family forms healthy behavior in adolescents of different ethnicities. Acknowledgments: This study was supported by Medical University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Project HO-12/2019.