Impact of some demographic parameters on leisure time and body weight
Impact of some demographic parameters on leisure time and body weight

Summary/Abstract: Objectives. This study aims to determine the variability of the preferred way of spending leisure time (LT), classification according to Body mass index (BMI) and the interest in the control of body weight (BW), in relation to age, gender, place of residence and education within a Romanian sample.Material and methods. Questionnaire data were obtained during 2011 and 2012 from 497 respondents aged 35-74. The sample was stratified to produce a well-balanced representation of place of residence, gender, age, and education level. The Pearson chi-square test was performed using the SPSS-18 statistical program. Results. In the whole sample, most people spend “often” LT watching TV, watching rented movies, listening to tapes, CDs (38.8%). Less than 8% practice “often” a sport, go to theater, cinema, concerts, exhibitions. BMI classification indicates 43.3% normal weight, 39.2% overweight, 16.9% obese, and 0.6% underweight. It has been identified that: with age the proportion of people controlling BW decreases, women and urban subjects control their BW more frequently (p <0.05), spending LT watching TV prevails, the older people spend more LT this way in comparison to young people and men are more likely than women to participate in sports, exercise. The higher percentage of obesity in 50-59 age group and of overweight beginning with the age of 60 suggests that weight gain rises with age and at the same time that the prevalence of obesity increases with age to peak at about 60 years.Conclusions. The most important variable in promoting public health programs is age. These low percentages of leisure-time physical activity require urgent actions.

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