Evaluation of the level of physical activity in schools of the public education network of a municipality in the northeast Brazil

Introduction: Physical activity can be conceptualized as voluntary human intentional body movement, which results in an energy expenditure above rest levels, characterized by daily activity and physical exercise. Lack of physical activity can have negative effects on one's life such as increased rate of diabetes, hypertension, onset of heart disease, and even leads to an increased risk of stroke. Objective: To evaluate the level of physical activity in children of a school in the municipal public school located in Dom. Expedito Lopes - PI. Method: This is a quantitative field research conducted with 27 students regularly enrolled in the 9th grade elementary school morning of a school in the city of Dom Expedito Lopes, through the use of the evaluation questionnaire physical activity and the sedentary lifestyle in children and adolescents developed by Silva (2009). Results: In the transfer to school 10.7% of the men and 21.4% of the women use the active transport. Regarding the classification of physical activity in relation to time, 3.6% of the interviewees of both sexes were classified as inactive, 17.9% of the boys and 10.7% of the girls were inadequately active and 39.3% of the boys and 25 % of girls are considered active. Conclusion: According to the level of physical activity presented by the students, there was a higher incidence of subjects classified as active and insufficiently active. Male schoolchildren were found to be physically more active than female students.