The Relationship Between Smoking and Physical Activity Among Adults Following a Sedentary Life Style

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between smoking and physical activity among adults with a sedentary file style. Sport experience, sleeping disorders and BMI were also examined. 36 smokers and 36 non smokers were recruited. They were all healthy middle aged people, living in the four biggest cities of a northern Greek region. PA was measured in real time with the accelerometer RT3. Sport participation and leisure-time physical activity were measured with the Baecke questionnaire. T-tests for independent groups indicated that non smokers produced significantly higher scores in sport participation (p<.001), in overall daily PA (p<.001), in low (p<.01), and intensive physical activity (p<.01). The regression analysis showed that smoking and sport experience were significant predictors of sport participation (p<.001 and p<.005 respectively). Smoking is a significant predictor of
low and intensive physical activity (p<.05 and p<.01 respectively). It seems that, among middle-aged Greek sedentary office employees, who have the same athletic experience, about the same BMI, and the same quality of sleep, non smokers are those who are more likely to articipate in sports and physical activities, in almost all intensity levels.