Abstract

TOVAR, Gustavo; RODRIGUEZ, Ángela; GARCIA, Gabriela  and  TOVAR, José Rafael. Physical activity and counseling in students of first and fifth year of medicine course in one university of Bogotá, Colombia. Univ. Salud [online]. 2016, vol.18, n.1, pp.16-23. ISSN 0124-7107.

Introduction: Physical inactivity is the fourth risk factor for developing a Non transmissible Chronic Disease (NCD). The advice given by the physician depends on people's own lifestyle. Objective: To describe the levels of physical activity (PA) and factors associated with counseling in students from the first and fifth year of the faculty of medicine at a private university in Bogotá, Colombia. Materials and methods: A descriptive study was made with 61 first-year students and 62 from fifth year of medicine between 18 and 29 years old. The data from a subset of records was analyzed, which are part of a database obtained in a cross-sectional study, in which the Spanish version of the questionnaire Healthy Doctor = Healthy patient was applied. Results: 123 first and fifth year of medicine students were evaluated. In first year 39.3% and in fifth year 48.8% met the recommendations of PA. 21.3% and 8.1 % respectively reported to be inactive. Lack of time was the main barrier to physical activity. Positive attitude toward counseling was 100% in the last year. More overweight was observed in the group of fifth year (23.8% men and 9.8% women). Conclusion: The proportion of medical students who perform PA is lower than those observed in the general population and in similar populations of medicine students. The analysis of the barriers suggests that future interventions should consider the allocation of time to practice it within the curriculum. The way how medical schools are addressing the issue of physical activity must be reviewed as a fundamental pillar of health promotion.

Keywords : Physical activity; attitude towards health; medicine students; lifestyle; schools medical schools; preventive medicine.

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