Appraising the degree of physical activities among male students at a Saudi medical school

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to assess the degree of physical activity among male medical students. We also investigated the association between their physical activity and academic performance. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we distributed the International Physical Activity Questionnaire among male medical students of the first year through the fourth year by using a convenient sampling technique. Physical activity was measured by using the Metabolic Equivalent Task (MET) score. The demographic variables included academic year and age of the participants. RESULTS: The study included 317 students; of those, 219 were pre-clinical (first and second year), and 98 were clinical (third and fourth year) students. According to the MET score, the degree of physical activity was categorized into three groups. As many as 140 (44%) students were classified as highly active (MET>3000) and 98 (34%) moderately active (MET 600–3000), while 69 (22%) students were inactive (MET<600). The second-year students had a higher degree of inactivity than others (p = 0.004). Additionally, there was a significant difference in the amount of siting time during the week, with a higher median sitting time by second-year students than by third- and fourth-year students (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: In our study, most male medical students showed moderate or high physical activity. However, second-year students were physically inactive. Hence, the reason for such inactivity among second-year students should be explored. This study calls for the implementation of university-level programs that can motivate students to participate in physical activities.