Introduction. The physical activity of adolescents forms an important aspect of their normal development and the prevention of lifestyle diseases.
Aim. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the effect of physical activity of adolescents on the prevention of lifestyle diseases.
Material and method. The study covered a sample of 135 students from a secondary school in Zamość, Poland, was conducted in 2016, and used the diagnostic survey method. The research tool was the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) in its Polish adaptation (the abridged version) and a survey questionnaire developed by the authors.
Results. More than half of the respondents (63.70%) engaged in sports activities in addition to PE classes at school, usually choosing team sports. According to the IPAQ key, 40.74% of the students demonstrated a high level of physical activity, 39.26% a moderate level, and 20% an insufficient level. The students were of the view that regular physical activity is of substantial importance in the prevention of diabetes (12.66% of the boys; 28.57% of the girls; p=0.037). At the same time, it was found not to have any major effect on the prevention of obesity, cancers, diseases of the musculoskeletal system or cardiovascular diseases.
Conclusions. The majority of the students declared that they regularly engaged in physical activity outside of school. According to the IPAQ assessment, the physical activity of adolescents remains at a high level, which may be considered as a positive indicator for the prevention of lifestyle diseases.
