Physical activity levels during daily life in adolescents living in a hilly village of Nepal

The lack of physical activities in children and young people has become a problem in many industrialized countries. However, the optimal physical activity level is not clearly understood. The purpose of the present study was to estimate the physical activity level during the daily life of adolescents living in a rural hilly village of Nepal, apart from the machine civilization and without sports activities. Seven males (age: 10 – 14 yr, Stature: 125.3 – 150.3 cm, Body Mass: 22.75 – 40.6 kg, Body Mass Index: 14.5 – 19.2 kg/m) wore pedometers for 3 – 5 consecutive days and an electrocardiograph for 24 hours during school vacation. The step counts and heart rate (HR) were determined for each subject. None of the subjects participated in voluntary sports activity. The mean step counts determined by the pedometer was 18,052 ± 2,778(SD; range 15,577 – 23,361) steps per day. The HR of one subject was 85 beats/min at sleep, 95 beats/min at rest, and 195 beats/min was the maximal HR during the day. The highest HR and the lowest HR over the course of 24-hr ranged from 150 – 191 beats/min and 52 – 72 beats/min. The HR was above 150 beats/min for from 0-min to 8-min during normal activities, in all but one subject (120-min). The work intensity (%HRR) was calculated by Karvonen’s method using the HR during the daytime. The appearance time of 60% HRR or more was only 0-min to 9-min, although it was 42-min for one subject. The appearance time of 50 60% HRR was 2-min to 20-min. Therefore, the HR during the daytime was 30% HRR or less for most of the time. These results suggest that the physical activity level in the daily lifestyle of adolescents living in the rural district is not unusual, and the step counts are at the same levels or only a little more than those reported in active children or adolescent in developed countries. In addition, this study provides evidence that there are very few anaerobic physical activities in the natural lifestyle.