Reasons for physical exercise practice in university students according to body mass index

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify possible involvement of body mass index (BMI) in identifying the motives which may induce college students to practice physical exercise. A total of 2380 subjects aged 18 to 35 years-old were included in the study. To identify exercise motives we used the version translated into Portuguese of the Exercise Motivations Inventory (EMI-2). The statistical treatment of data was performed by univariate and multivariate analysis of variance, in which the exercise motives were the dependent variables and gender and strata of BMI (normal weight, overweight and obesity). The results indicated significant effect of sex (Wilks’ Lambda=0.737; F (10,2369)=84.736; p<0.001) and BMI strata (Wilks’ Lambda=0.810; F(20,6948)=17.226; p<0.001) in the level of importance mentioned by the college students for exercise participation. Motives exercise associated to Weight Management (F=85.299; p<0.001), Health Rehabilitation (F=12.474; p<0.001), Appearance (F=6.647; p<0.001) and Disease Prevention (F=4.136; p=0.002) were significantly higher in overweight and obese college students, whereas college students with normal weight presented significantly higher ratings for Fun/Wellness (F=8.906; p<0.001), Affiliation (F=5.123; p<0.001) and Stress Management (F=3.269; p=0.023). In conclusion, different exercise motives given by normal-weight, overweight and obese college students should be into account in proposing intervention programs in this segment of the population.