The Practice of Physical Exercise among the Staff of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Physical exercise is important for good health. Moderate physical exercise for at least 30 minutes, five times a week is the minimum recommendation for adults. The objective of the study was to assess the level of physical exercise among the staff of an International research Institute in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Methodology: This was a descriptive cross sectional study of 206 employees sampled proportional to the size of the IITA staff categories. After obtaining informed consent data on socio-demographic parameters, anthropometric measurements, knowledge of obesity, the practice of leisure and work-related exercise were obtained using a structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Analysis System (SAS) version 9.2.
Results: The mean age of the respondents was 37.0±10.8 years. Practice of leisure exercise was adequate, inadequate and nil in 16%, 54% and 30% respectively. The leisure exercises practiced most commonly were brisk walking, jogging and swimming in 42.2%, 20%, and 8.4% respectively. The survey revealed that 72%, 9% and 19% of the respondents were significantly active, moderately active and sedentary at work respectively. The majority, 61.5%, of the management staff were involved with sedentary jobs. The respondents with low formal education were more active at work compared to those with higher education, p = 0.005. Overall, 88.2% were physically active although about 45% of respondents were either overweight or obese, and less than half had good knowledge of obesity.
Conclusion: Public education is needed to improve physical activity and curb the menace of health problems associated with a sedentary lifestyle.