Physical Activity Levels of the Young Adults in an Economically Developing Country: The Turkish Sample

The purpose of this study was to examine the physical activity levels of the young adults in Turkey, selected as an example of an economically developing country. A total of 1027 university students voluntarily participated in this study. The sport and household activity in-dexes of the Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (PAAQ) were administered to the subjects. Student t-test showed gender differences in the intensity of the sport activities index (p<0.001). The results of 2 (gender) x 2 (intensity of sport activities) univariate ANOVA revealed significant gender, intensity differences and significant gender x intensity interaction on participation duration in the sports activities. This finding showed that males spent more time in both vigorous and non-vigorous sport activities than females. In terms of the type of en-gagement in sport activity, the majority of males primarily played soccer, while females had primarily walked. The Student t test revealed gender differences in both the duration of housework and sitting in the house. To conclude, males participated in sport activities with a higher intensity and spent more time on these activities than females. On the other hand, females spent much more time on housework activities and sitting in the house than males.