Article Open Access May 22, 2022

Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study

1
School of Public Health, Gambia College, Brikama, The Gambia
2
Department of Public & Environmental Health, School of Medicine & Allied Health Sciences, University of The Gambia, Kanifing, The Gambia
Page(s): 38-49
Received
April 12, 2022
Revised
May 12, 2022
Accepted
May 20, 2022
Published
May 22, 2022
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Scientific Publications
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APA Style
Barrow, A. , Jammeh, B. , & Badjie, M. (2022). Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study. Current Research in Public Health, 2(2), 38-49. https://doi.org/10.31586/gjeid.2022.300
ACS Style
Barrow, A. ; Jammeh, B. ; Badjie, M. Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study. Current Research in Public Health 2022 2(2), 38-49. https://doi.org/10.31586/gjeid.2022.300
Chicago/Turabian Style
Barrow, Amadou, Balla Jammeh, and Mansour Badjie. 2022. "Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study". Current Research in Public Health 2, no. 2: 38-49. https://doi.org/10.31586/gjeid.2022.300
AMA Style
Barrow A, Jammeh B, Badjie M. Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study. Current Research in Public Health. 2022; 2(2):38-49. https://doi.org/10.31586/gjeid.2022.300
@Article{crph300,
AUTHOR = {Barrow, Amadou and Jammeh, Balla and Badjie, Mansour},
TITLE = {Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study},
JOURNAL = {Current Research in Public Health},
VOLUME = {2},
YEAR = {2022},
NUMBER = {2},
PAGES = {38-49},
URL = {https://www.scipublications.com/journal/index.php/GJEID/article/view/300},
ISSN = {2831-5162},
DOI = {10.31586/gjeid.2022.300},
ABSTRACT = {Background: Everyone, irrespective of age, sex, colour, ethnicity, or present overall fitness level, can benefit from regular exercise. To improve one's health, one must engage in regular physical activity. People with underlying illnesses like long-term impairment can benefit from regular physical activity at the individual level, especially young women. Thus, the current study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of physical activity among female school-aged adolescents in the West Coast Region of The Gambia. Methods: The present study used an institutional-based cross-sectional analytical study to collect quantitative data from 384 female high school students in The Gambia. The study used a content-validated, pretested structured questionnaire that consisted of both open and closed-ended questions on physical activity. The data were processed and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 26.0. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square and/or Fisher exact test were used with a p-value <0.15 for inclusion in the logistic regression model. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, while p-value <0.05 was considered for statistical significance. Results: The proportion of female students involved in physical activity was 37.5%. The mean age of students was 18.8 years with a standard deviation of 1.7 years. Factors such as female students between 17 – 20 years (aOR:3.05, 95% C.I. (1.807 – 5.138)), father never been to school (aOR: 2.82, 95% C.I. (1.495 – 5.334)), primary education (aOR: 2.15, 95% C.I. (1.027 – 4.493)), upper basic school (aOR: 2.31, 95% C.I. (1.055 – 5.074)) and science major students (aOR: 2.21, 95% C.I. (1.203 – 4.047)) had increased odds of involving in PA. Furthermore, students who knew that exercise would strengthen bones (aOR: 2.62, 95% C.I (1.444 – 4.739)), do a planned brisk walking (aOR: 19.16, 95% C.I. (6.698 – 54.811)), basketball/football (aOR: 29.76, 95% C.I. (10.004 – 88.512)) and skipping with rope (aOR: 29.15, 95% C.I. (9.726 – 87.333)) had increased odds to involved in PA after controlling for confounders. Other factors such as students whose mother never been to school (aOR: 0.31, 95% C.I. (0.140 – 0.674)), primary level (aOR: 0.25, 95% C.I. (0.123 – 0.518)), senior secondary level (aOR: 0.42, 95% C.I. (0.189 – 0.935)), nuclear family (aOR: 0.23, 95% C.I. (0.119 – 0.458)) and extended family (aOR: 0.45, 95% C.I. (0.225 – 0.915)) had reduced odds of involving in PA. Conclusion: There is low physical activity among female adolescents in schools. For this, it is imperative that suitable interventions be implemented to raise the level of physical activity among secondary school students. A future intervention for school-aged adolescents could benefit from these findings.},
}
%0 Journal Article
%A Barrow, Amadou
%A Jammeh, Balla
%A Badjie, Mansour
%D 2022
%J Current Research in Public Health

%@ 2831-5162
%V 2
%N 2
%P 38-49

%T Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study
%M doi:10.31586/gjeid.2022.300
%U https://www.scipublications.com/journal/index.php/GJEID/article/view/300
TY  - JOUR
AU  - Barrow, Amadou
AU  - Jammeh, Balla
AU  - Badjie, Mansour
TI  - Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study
T2  - Current Research in Public Health
PY  - 2022
VL  - 2
IS  - 2
SN  - 2831-5162
SP  - 38
EP  - 49
UR  - https://www.scipublications.com/journal/index.php/GJEID/article/view/300
AB  - Background: Everyone, irrespective of age, sex, colour, ethnicity, or present overall fitness level, can benefit from regular exercise. To improve one's health, one must engage in regular physical activity. People with underlying illnesses like long-term impairment can benefit from regular physical activity at the individual level, especially young women. Thus, the current study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of physical activity among female school-aged adolescents in the West Coast Region of The Gambia. Methods: The present study used an institutional-based cross-sectional analytical study to collect quantitative data from 384 female high school students in The Gambia. The study used a content-validated, pretested structured questionnaire that consisted of both open and closed-ended questions on physical activity. The data were processed and analyzed using IBM SPSS version 26.0. Descriptive statistics and Chi-square and/or Fisher exact test were used with a p-value <0.15 for inclusion in the logistic regression model. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals were calculated, while p-value <0.05 was considered for statistical significance. Results: The proportion of female students involved in physical activity was 37.5%. The mean age of students was 18.8 years with a standard deviation of 1.7 years. Factors such as female students between 17 – 20 years (aOR:3.05, 95% C.I. (1.807 – 5.138)), father never been to school (aOR: 2.82, 95% C.I. (1.495 – 5.334)), primary education (aOR: 2.15, 95% C.I. (1.027 – 4.493)), upper basic school (aOR: 2.31, 95% C.I. (1.055 – 5.074)) and science major students (aOR: 2.21, 95% C.I. (1.203 – 4.047)) had increased odds of involving in PA. Furthermore, students who knew that exercise would strengthen bones (aOR: 2.62, 95% C.I (1.444 – 4.739)), do a planned brisk walking (aOR: 19.16, 95% C.I. (6.698 – 54.811)), basketball/football (aOR: 29.76, 95% C.I. (10.004 – 88.512)) and skipping with rope (aOR: 29.15, 95% C.I. (9.726 – 87.333)) had increased odds to involved in PA after controlling for confounders. Other factors such as students whose mother never been to school (aOR: 0.31, 95% C.I. (0.140 – 0.674)), primary level (aOR: 0.25, 95% C.I. (0.123 – 0.518)), senior secondary level (aOR: 0.42, 95% C.I. (0.189 – 0.935)), nuclear family (aOR: 0.23, 95% C.I. (0.119 – 0.458)) and extended family (aOR: 0.45, 95% C.I. (0.225 – 0.915)) had reduced odds of involving in PA. Conclusion: There is low physical activity among female adolescents in schools. For this, it is imperative that suitable interventions be implemented to raise the level of physical activity among secondary school students. A future intervention for school-aged adolescents could benefit from these findings.
DO  - Prevalence and predictors of physical activity among female high school students in The Gambia: an institutional-based cross-sectional study
TI  - 10.31586/gjeid.2022.300
ER  -