Objective:

To characterize the dimension of exercise and physical activity as well as its relation to the academic responsibilities of university students of Popayán-Colombia.

Methodology:

Quantitative descriptive-correlational type sstudy, with a random sample of 350 students from nine faculties of a Higher Education institution during the second period of 2016. The Lifestyles Questionnaire for Young University Students (CEVJU-R) was used.

Results:

“Unhealthy” practices were identified whose motivation to exercise was “ health maintenance” and the first inspiration for not performing these practices was “laziness”. There was also a significant difference in practices between men and women (p ≤0, 05) establishing a positive relationship between academic responsibility and level of physical activity.

Conclusions:

Men presented healthier practices than women. It was also found that the students presenting a high academic responsibility obtained high scores in this dimension, so it was placed in the range of “unhealthy” practices which is associated with little or low physical activity.

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