PHYSICAL ACTIVITY RISK BEHAVIOURS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS IN UDI EDUCATION ZONE, ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Risk behaviors have been associated with leading causes of non-communicable diseases. Coupled to this is the little knowledge exhibited by people regarding this relationship. Against this background, a study to determine the physical activity risk behaviours of secondary school teachers in Udi education zone of Enugu State, Nigeria was carried out. Three research questions and two null hypotheses were raised to guide the study. The survey involved a sample of 120 teachers drawn from a population of 1225 using the multistage sampling procedure. Physical Activity Risk Behaviour Questionnaire (PARBQ) adapted from the Youth Risk Behaviour Survey (YRBS) questionnaire of Center for Disease Prevention and Control, USA, was the instrument for data collection. It was validated by three experts and reliability established through split-half method and Cronbach Alpha Statistic used to determine the correlation co-efficient index, which yielded 0.79. Only 117 out of the 120 copies of the questionnaire were duly completed. Data were analysed using mean & standard deviation. The t-test and ANOVA statistics were employed to test the two null hypotheses p<.05. Findings showed that the teachers were involved in physical activity risk behaviours such as neglecting participation in regular physical exercises. It was also established that while the risk behaviours depended on gender, teaching experiences had no significant influence on the behaviours. Consequently, a well designed workplace health promotion programme for the teachers was recommended.