Author(s)

Sameh Sh. Zaytoun¹, Raouf M. Afifi², Amani Qulali², Hesham A. K. Ayoub³

¹Department of Community Medicine, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt.
²Community Health Institute, International Management-Health Services Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
³Department of Internal Medicine, Military Medical Academy, Cairo, Egypt.

Physical inactivity is generally accepted as one of the most serious health risk behaviors of young adults contributing to poorer health outcome. This study aimed at determining the impacts of behavioral and medical problems on physical activity (PA) among the Egyptian youth. In this study, 500 Egyptian men aged 18 - 30 years old attending for medical examination in Qena University Outpatient department between March 2013 and March 2014 were surveyed; risk factors for physical inactivity were analyzed. Significantly, 58.0% of smokers demonstrated the tendency to physical inactivity; only 0.8% did vigorous PA [X(df = 2) = 15.53, p < 0.001]. Most of those with history of drug abuse and all alcoholics reported low PA tendency [X²(df = 2) = 13.96, p < 0.001, Fisher’s exact = 6.3, p = 0.045, respectively]. As much as 87.1% of the obese had mild PA, too [X²(df = 2) = 16.62, p < 0.001]. Heart disease was also associated with a tendency of physical inactivity [X²(df = 2) = 15.6, p < 0.001]. Most anemics (68.9%) reported mild PA and 31% of them reported having moderate PA [X²(df = 2) = 8.22, p = 0.027]. Both, hepatitis B virus (HBV)- and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infection, and diabetes mellitus (DM) were not risk for physical inactivity. The present work provides that PA diminishes with some chronic illnesses and behavioral derangements, e.g., drug abuse and smoking. Interestingly, HBV, HCV infections and DM are not among risks for physical inactivity.

Physical Inactivity, Young Males, Risks, Smoking, Drug Abuse, Egypt

Zaytoun, S. , Afifi, R. , Qulali, A. and Ayoub, H. (2015) Impact of Behavioral and Medical Problems on Physical Activity in Male Egyptian Young Adults. Advances in Physical Education, 5, 234-244. doi: 10.4236/ape.2015.54028.