Sociodemographic and body image measures associated with overall and domain-specific physical activity among a group of Malaysian university undergraduates

PurposeThis study aims to determine the prevalence of overall and work, transport and leisure domain physical activity (PA) and their associated factors among Malaysian university undergraduates.Design/methodology/approachThis is an online cross-sectional study, which gathered data on sociodemographic parameters, PA and body image. Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) was used to collect data on PA while Multidimensional Body-Self Relation Questionnaire-Appearance Scale (MBSRQ-AS) for body image constructs. Three faculties were chosen through stratified random sampling where all its undergraduates were invited. A total of 898 students responded, of which 718 were accepted for analysis.FindingsPrevalence of overall work, transport and leisure domain PA among the students was 82.2%, 47.8%, 36.1% and 51.4% respectively. Overall PA was associated with male students (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.840, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.182–2.865); work PA was associated with the Malay race (AOR: 1.728, 95% CI: 1.240–2.409) and having part-time jobs (AOR: 3.098, 95% CI: 1.680–5.714); transport PA was associated with medical faculty (AOR: 1.677, 95% CI: 1.214–2.317) and leisure PA was associated with male students (AOR: 3.836, 95% CI: 2.746–5.360) and high overweight preoccupation (AOR: 1.486, 95% CI: 1.089–2.028).Research limitations/implicationsSelf-reported variables may be subjected to overestimation and bias.Practical implicationsDistributions of PA and its associated factors may be used as guidance for health promotions catering to university students.Social implicationsFactors affecting PA among the youth are correlated with social life events.Originality/valueFocus on domain-specific PA in association with body image measures may add values to existing PA studies, which is lacking in Malaysia.