title: [Stages of behavioral change regarding physical activity in students from a Brazilian town].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Verifying the association between stages of behavioural change (SBC) for physical activity (PA) and socio-demographic factors, behavioural factors and PA barriers in students from a small town in Brazil.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross-sectional study's representative sample was formed by 281 high school students from Simão Dias, Sergipe State, in Brazil, having 17.4 (± 1.98) mean age. Socio-demographic information was collected via a self-administered instrument (gender, age, school grade, economic level (EL) and family-head's EL), SBC for PA, behavioural factors (smoking, alcohol and stress) and PA barriers. A hierarchical model was used, involving Poisson regression with respective confidence intervals; significance level was set at 5 % for all analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  65.8 % of the participating students were classified in stages referring to inactive physical behaviour. Being female had the probability of presenting 1.37 times higher inactive behaviour (1.14-1.65 95 %CI) when compared to being male in the final regression model; having a low EL remained a risk factor, compared to medium EL students (PR=1.41; 1.15-1.72 95 %CI).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings may prove useful for developing health promotion programmes in school environments, paying special attention to female and low-EL students.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Desportos, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brasil. diegoaugustoss@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Diego A S
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Aldemir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Smith-Menezes
authors.forename: Marciusde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Almeida-Gomes
authors.forename: Thiago Ferreira
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: de Sousa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data