INTRODUCTION: Practicing regular, moderate to vigorous physical activities has an inverse relation to morbidity-mortality caused by cardiovascular diseases and obesity. It is essential to identify the determinants of this practice in order to propose strategies for populations to adopt a physically active lifestyle. OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors associated with practicing physical activity and sedentary lifestyle in the adult population of Goiania. METHODS: Multi-center, cross-sectional study, carried out in Goiania with a probabilistic sample of the adult population with landline phones. 2,002 interviews were conducted through phone calls, setting a success rate of 73.1%. The database was built, and statistical analyses were carried out with the support of STATA software, version 8.0. RESULTS: A sedentary lifestyle was more prevalent among women (55.5%) than among men (42.0%). The prevalence of hypertension was lower in individuals practicing physical activity (p=0.0002). Regarding leisure-time physical activity, women were more inactive (79.3%) than men (66.9%). There was an inverse relationship between a sedentary lifestyle and the educational background for both genders. CONCLUSION: Due to this snapshot, showing a high frequency of sedentary lifestyle in the population, we suggest the implementation of primary prevention strategies to improve the risk profile for non-communicable chronic diseases.
Physical activity; Sedentary lifestyle; Non-communicable chronic diseases; Risk factors; Surveillance
