Abstract

Physical and athletic activities that college students practice on their leisure do not fulfill the ideal active life-style recommended for a healthy condition. The present study explores how sex, age and body mass index relates to the level and amount of physical and athletic activities realized by active young people on their leisure. From the University of Guadalajara in Mexico, a 65.000 college student population, it was taken a sample of 1.207 individuals. The sampling procedure for this research was stratified polietapic with proportional affixation; which resulted on a +-3 percent error margin and a trusted level of 95.5 percent. The method used for collecting data was a standardized questionnaire which was auto-applied. Among the main results it was found that students spend from two to three days to a two or three hours practice. This fact shows a considerable increase of cardiac pulsations and breathing efforts of at least twenty minutes. It is concluded that the major collective fulfill the recommended levels of physical activity. It is observed that sex, age and BMI do not influence frequency, intensity or duration of leisure time physical activity as well as suggested levels of physical activity.