Social and Educational Sustainability of the Physical Education of Romanian Students and the Impact on Their Physical Activity Level

Abstract

Nowadays, a descending trend concerning physical activity levels among youth has been recorded, as well as differences between males and females; more than half recorded a low level of the physical activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the social and educational sustainability of physical education and to determine the level of physical activity by using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form for Romanian undergraduate and graduate students. In our study, we included students and applied the IPAQ short form anonymously. They gave their consent to use these personal data only for scientific purposes. Overall, two thirds of the subjects (according to the IPAQ scoring protocol) and more than half (according to the World Health Organization recommendation for physical activity) consider themselves to be active. The present study showed that there is a prevalence of insufficient physical activity among Romanian University students (around 40%). The situation seems to be better than in other countries, but in self-evaluation, many people tend to overestimate their potential. To avoid this aspect and gain some objectivity, it is better to use a gadget in order to measure the level of their physical activity.