Background: Sufficient levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) give substantial health benefits to adolescents. This article examines trends in physical activity (PA) from 2002 to 2010 across 32 countries from Europe and North America. Methods: Representative samples included 479 674 pupils (49% boys) aged 11 years (n = 156 383), 13 years (n = 163 729) and 15 years (n = 159 562). The trends in meeting the recommendations for PA (at least 60 min daily) were evaluated using logistic regression. Results: There was a slight overall increase between 2002 and 2010 (17.0% and 18.6%, respectively). MVPA increased significantly (P ≤ 0.05) among boys in 16 countries. Conversely, nine countries showed a significant decrease. Among girls, 10 countries showed a significant increase (P ≤ 0.05). Eight countries showed a significant decrease. For all countries combined, girls were slightly less likely to show an increase in PA over time. Conclusions: The majority of adolescents do not meet current recommendations of PA. Further investment at national and international levels is therefore necessary to increase PA participation among children and adolescents and reduce the future health burden associated with inactivity.

Participation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) has been linked to healthy youth development. This study aimed to assess whether participation in OLTA is associated with both physical and mental health in adolescents, and whether this association differs by pattern of activity participation, age and gender. The present study was based on data from the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study in the Czech Republic. This data concerned 10,503 adolescents (49.2 % boys) aged 11, 13 and 15. A cluster analysis was carried out to obtain patterns of activity participation and yielded five groups (all-rounders, artists, individual sports, team sports and inactive). The association between participation in types of OLTA and physical and mental health was analysed using logistic regression models adjusted for age and gender. We also assessed interactions between types of OLTA and gender and age. Participation in OLTA was associated with better self-rated health and higher life satisfaction regardless of gender or age. Participation in team or individual sports was associated with better general health and less frequent health complaints in boys, while participation in art activities was associated with lower occurrence of health complaints in girls and 11-year-olds. Participation in OLTA is associated with better physical and mental health in adolescents. The association varies by pattern of activity participation and is partly gender- and age-specific.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: No recent international studies provide evidence about its prevalence, trends, or social determinants of physical fighting in adolescents. We studied cross-national epidemiologic trends over time in the occurrence of frequent physical fighting, demographic variations in reported trends, and national wealth and income inequality as correlates. METHODS: Cross-sectional surveys were administered in school settings in 2002, 2006, and 2010. Participants (N = 493874) included eligible and consenting students aged 11, 13, and 15 years in sampled schools from 30 mainly European and North American countries. Individual measures included engagement in frequent physical fighting, age, gender, participation in multiple risk behaviors, victimization by bullying, and family affluence. Contextual measures included national income inequality, absolute wealth and homicide rates. Temporal measure was survey cycle (year). RESULTS: Frequent physical fighting declined over time in 19 (63%) of 30 countries (from descriptive then multiple Poisson regression analyses). Contextual measures of absolute wealth (relative risk 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.93–0.99 per 1 SD increase in gross domestic product per capita) but not income inequality (relative risk 1.01, 95% confidence interval 0.98–1.05 per 1 SD increase) related to lower levels of engagement in fighting. Other risk factors identified were male gender, younger age (11 years), multiple risk behaviors, victimization by bullying, and national homicide rates. CONCLUSIONS: Between 2002 and 2010, adolescent physical fighting declined in most countries. Specific groups of adolescents require targeted violence reduction programs. Possible determinants responsible for the observed declines are discussed.

An optimal level of physical activity (PA) in adolescence influences the level of PA in adulthood. Although PA declines with age have been demonstrated repeatedly, few studies have been carried out on secular trends. The present study assessed levels, types and secular trends of PA and sedentary behaviour of a sample of adolescents in the Czech Republic.

The levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour are significant indicators of health behaviour and their monitoring is crucial in developing public policy in the area of health promotion and non-communicable disease prevention. The aim of the study was to describe the prevalence of PA and sedentary behaviour as well as age and gender differences in Czech adults (18–90 years old, N = 1753; 48.4% male) participating in the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) cross-sectional study 2011. To assess the significant differences between self-reported PA and sedentary behaviour the MANOVA, a post hoc Fischer's least significant difference (LSD) test and logistic regression were used. The level of PA was classified according to the amount of MET-minutes per week as high, moderate or low. Irrespective of age and gender, 32.3% of adults reported a low level of PA; 21.3% of adults fell within the category of moderate level of PA and 46.4% of adults reported a high level of PA. The level of PA decreases with age; men are generally more physically active than women. More than 60% of adults across all age categories are assessed as ‘sedentary’. The highest rate of sedentary behaviour was observed in adults over 65 years of age. The development of national strategies for PA promotion together with the development and verification of specific intervention programmes, especially for women, should be a priority in the Czech Republic.