Vasconcelos, CarlosFernandes, José CarlosFernandes, Isabel P.Fernandes, Bóris dos SantosRocha, CarinaSá, Carla2021-07-282021-07-282020Vasconcelos, Carlos; Fernandes, José Carlos; Fernandes, Isabel; Fernandes, Bóris; Rocha, Carina; Sá, Carla (2020). Sitting time and body mass índex in a sample of portuguese university students. In A Revista da Associação Portuguesa de Nutrição: Acta Portuguesa de Nutrição. Lisboa2183-5985http://hdl.handle.net/10198/23782INTRODUCTION: Overweight and obesity are serious health problems in Portugal, with physical, psychological and social consequences that affects individuals’ quality of life. In university students’ daily routine, sitting is a predominant behavior for many hours per day, increasing sedentary time among these individuals. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between the time spent sitting in an ordinary weekday and body mass index in a sample of Portuguese university students. METHODOLOGY: This was a cross-sectional study performed in 72 Portuguese university students (38 female; 22.1 ± 3.9 years of age). The time spent sitting in an ordinary weekday was assessed with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (short last week version). Body mass index was calculated through self-reported body weight (kg) and body height (m) data with the formula body weight (kg) / body height (m)2. RESULTS: The time spent sitting in an ordinary weekday was 342.1 ± 192.7 minutes. The mean value of body mass index was 22.9 ± 2.9 kg/m2. Through the use of Pearson correlation, we determine that the association between sitting time and body mass index is positive and significant (r = 0.511; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that there was significant association between sitting time and body mass index in this sample of Portuguese university students. Although the cross sectional design of our study do not allow to establish causality, it suggests the need of effective strategies to reduce time sitting in this individuals.engNutriçãoconference object