The Influence Of Peer Support On Chinese Adolescents' Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity

Nowadays,main challenges of physical fitness that Chinese adolescent facing are low levels of lung function maintenance,overweight/obesity,rising myopia rate,and stagnant growth of physical performance indicators(endurance,strength,and speed)in China.Although a large number of studies have confirmed that sufficient physical activity during adolescence is of great significance for adolescents' physical and mental health and reducing the risk of chronic disease in adulthood in the field of public health,national surveys show that Chinese adolescents are seriously physical inactivity.The health problems of adolescent are particularly serious,especially obesity/overweight caused by insufficient physical activity,severe sedentary behavior,and an increased risk of chronic non-communicable diseases.Therefore,there is an urgent need to find effective ways to improve health.Research purposes: This study investigates gender,grade,and urban-rural differences in physical activity levels among adolescents by investigating six cities in eastern developed areas of China.Meanwhile,based on the physical activity promotion model of children and adolescents,self-determination theory,motivation and opportunity determination theory,explore the influence of peer support,intrinsic motivation and explicit attitude on adolescent physical activity,and verify that the mediating role of intrinsic motivation and explicit attitude in the relationship between peer Support and physical activity.Method: Firstly,indicators were determined using Delphi method,peer support,intrinsic motivation,explicit attitude,and physical activity were measured using existing questionnaires.Reliability and validity tests showed that the survey requirements were met.Secondly,a multi-stage cluster sampling method was used to conduct a questionnaire survey(combination of electronical questionnaires and paper questionnaires)among 3,448 adolescents in 6 cities.Among them,1,639 are boys,1,809 are girls,1619 are in grades 7-8(47.0%),and 9-12 are in grades(53.0%).Thirdly,a hierarchical linear regression analysis and the structural equation model are used to analyze and verify the measured data.Result: Reliability and validity tests show that the reliability of the questionnaire is reliable and meets the requirements of the questionnaire survey.The 3448 adolescents surveyed had an average age of 14.9 ± 1.8 and an average BMI of 19.8 ± 4.0.Overweight and obese adolescents accounted for 10.2% and 5.8% of the total,respectively.The proportion of overweight and obesity(21.2%)in boys was greater than that in girls(11.3%).The overall proportion of overweight and obesity in junior high schools(16.4%)was higher than that in high school(15.7%),and that in urban areas(15.4%)was lower than in rural areas(16.7%).Adolescents' physical activity level meets 60 min/day MVPA recommendations: compared with girls(28.1%),boys(38.0%)are more likely to reach physical activity recommendations,compared with high school students(24.2%),junior high school students(42.6%)are more likely to reach the recommended amount of physical activity.Overall,cities(33.5%)are better than rural areas(32.1%).There are gender differences in the levels of peer support,intrinsic motivation,and explicit attitudes;there are school-level differences in peer support and explicit attitude levels;and urban-rural differences in peer support levels.Peer support (?=0.142,P<0.001)and explicit attitudes(?=0.200,P<0.001)have significant effects on adolescents' physical activity,and intrinsic motivation is not significant(?=0.009,P = 0.667).There is a significant mediating effect of intrinsic motivation and explicit attitude on the relationship between peer support and physical activity of Chinese adolescents.The total effect of peer support on adolescent physical activity was 0.24,and the overall mediating effect was 0.09.The independent mediating effect of explicit attitude was 18%,and the multiple mediating effect of intrinsic motivation and explicit attitude was 21%.Conclusion: The level of physical activity among Chinese adolescents in China is not optimistic,and more than half of the adolescents do not meet 60 min/day MVPA recommendations.The direct effects of peer support and explicit attitudes were significant,but the direct effects of intrinsic motivation on the physical activity of adolescents were not significant.The hypothetical model is verified,and multiple mediating effects of intrinsic motivation and explicit attitude are significant.The model can explain the physical activity of adolescents of different genders,grades,urban and rural areas in China.