Negative Correlation between BMI and Perception of Physical Activity in Adolescents

The development of obesity is a complex problem, conditioned by heterogeneous factors. Despite the impressive amount of research, the phenomenon is difficult to investigate, due to the inadequacy of quantitative methods to assess the negative spiral that triggers between self-efficacy perception and physical activity levels. The present study uses tools from quantitative research relating to conditional motor skills and tools coming from qualitative research relating to psychological factors. The hypothesis is that overweight affects not only motor performance, but also related psychological factors (perceived self-efficacy and enjoyment). The survey was conducted on a group of 177 adolescents (85 males and 92 females) aged between 14 and 18 years in the Puglia region. The subjects, once the quantitative tests were carried out, completed the PAQ_C scales (levels of physical activity in the last week), PACES (Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale) and Motor Self-efficacy questionnaire. Attested a negative relationship between overweight and motor tests results, a Spearman ranks correlation analysis was carried out to investigate the BMI relationship with the scores obtained at the qualitative scales. A negative correlation was identified between BMI and the scores of scales for all subjects (rs = -0.03; -0.15; -0.09 for PAQ_C, PACES and SEM). Based on the analysis of the collected data, adolescents with a high BMI have a high probability of developing adverse perceptions of their effectiveness and facing a high risk of sedentary behaviours.