Muhammad Jawad, Fahad Tanveer, Wardah Rauf, Hafiz Zain Pervaiz.
Awareness & Attitude Towards Physical Activity among Pediatric Population in Pakistan.
Pak J Physical Therapy Jan ;1(1):24-8.

Highlights: Lack of awareness and inactive attitude towards physical activity is concluded. Awareness and attitude towards physical activity among pediatric population in Pakistan was determined. Awareness of healthy lifestyles by promoting physical activity may be addressed by this study. Abstract: The importance of Physical Activity (PA) and its beneficial outcomes regarding health are well known facts. Modernization of the world has strong impact on lifestyles and behaviors of all individuals falling in different age groups. Children start learning routine activities in early childhood that turns into their habits in adulthood. Objective: This study aimed to determine awareness and attitude towards physical activity among pediatric population in Pakistan. Methodology: Total 62 children participated in this study from two institutes of Lahore, Pakistan having age 5- 12 years. Subjective measures (self-report) and objective measures (pedometer steps) were collected through Children Physical Activity Questionnaire (C-PAQ) and analyzed statistically. Results: The results showed that mean time spent in hard PA among girls was 99.66+-138.32 minutes and among boys was 213.18+-182.41 minutes (p-value 0.008). Mean time spent in moderate PA among girls was 110.69+-77.16 minutes and among boys was 188.33+-119.70 minutes (p-value 0.004). Mean time for T.V/homework etc. among girls was 752.76+-424.53 minutes and among boys was 925.15+-451.04 minutes (p-value 0.128). There was inverse and weak relationship between age and C-PAQ score (r=0.097). There was positive and weak relationship between pedometer steps and time spent in PA (r-0.237). Conclusions: There is lack of awareness towards PA among pediatric population in Pakistan. Mostly children overestimate their level of PA. They failed to achieve the required level of PA. Boys are found to be more active than girls. They spent more time in sports, videogames, computer etc. as compared to girls while girls spent more time in leisure activities and homework. PA level tends to decrease by increasing age and there is irregular and miscellaneous attitude towards PA.

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