The relationship between the obesity and stages of the exercise behaviour change

Challenging obesity with the high participation of physical and sportive activities in public is the primary health policy. It is important to assess the relationship between individuals' knowledge about the reasons of obesity and their orientation to physical exercise related to improving health and physical fitness. Thus, this study aims to determine the relationship among the level of participation in regular physical activity, obesity levels and awereness about factors affecting obesity in different age groups of male and females in Amasya. The exercise behaviors of the participants were determined by Turkish version of Physical Activity Stages of Change Questionnaire. For analyzes, X2 and Mann Whitney U test were used for comparison between binary groups. The results of this study showed that overweight and obese rates of 14-39 age group in all participants, male and female groups were greater than the group of 40 years old and over. Again, the proportion of overweight and obese of malewas higher than that of females. Except for the rate of knowing the reasons of obesity in males, the levels of physical characteristics, regular physical activity and obesity in both genders and in all participants differentiated according to BMI groups. In addition, the level of physical characteristics, regular physical activity and obesity in both genders and sedentary participants were significantly different among the sedentaries except the rate of knowing the reasons of obesity in females. In both genders and all participants, BMI was significantly correlated with age, knowledge of the reasons of obesity, level of exercise and education. BMI was found to be associated with gender in females and gender in all participants.