The aim of the study was to analyze the factors associated to practicing physical exercise in adults and elderly men living in S. Paulo. It is a cross-sectional study that analyzes 326 volunteer men aged 50 years and older. The dependent variable was the practice of physical exercise (PPE) in the last 12 months and the independent variables were age, education, practice of physical exercise in the period from 10 to 30 years of age, race, marital status, smoking habits, ingestion of alcoholic drinks, occupation and body mass index (BMI). The analysis was done using the c²test and simple logistic regression and multiple logistic regression. Education was associated to PPE, even after adjusting for smoking habits, age and BMI. Men with elementary school (OR= 4.56, 95CI%=1.66-12.50) and men with college education (OR= 8.39, 95CI%=1.83-38.42) practice more physical exercise than men that did not finish elementary school. These results show that education should be considered in the planning of physical exercise programs for adults and elderly men.
Physical exercise; Education; Adult; Aged; Men
