Typologies of adolescent activity related health behaviours

To identify typologies of activity-related behaviours and demographic characteristics of these typologies among Australian adolescents. Cross-sectional study of 473 Secondary School students (41.4% boys, mean age 14.95±1.61 years) conducted in 2014–15. Active travel to school, sport participation, leisure-time sedentary and demographic variables were self-reported in a survey. Duration of sedentary time and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (mins/day) were accelerometer-derived. Latent class analysis (LCA) was conducted to identify typologies of activity-related health behaviours. One-way ANOVAs and chi-square tests were used to explore differences by demographic characteristics. Three typologies were identified: (1) “Physically inactive, highly sedentary” (44%); (2) “Moderately active, high screen-time” (42%); and (3) “Highly active, low sedentary” (14%). Differences between typologies were evident for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), cultural identity, employment status and socioeconomic position (SEP). Those in typology 3 (optimal behaviour pattern) tended to be younger, of higher SEP and lower BMI. This study found that older adolescents have less active, more sedentary profiles than younger adolescents. The findings support the need for targeted interventions to improve adolescent activity-related behaviour engagement.