Objectives There is a lack of public awareness of the importance of engaging in physical activity (PA) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Nearly 58% of the UAE adult population self-reports as being physically inactive although little accelerometer data currently exists. The aim of this study was to obtain the first dataset that objectively quantifies PA and sedentary behaviour (SB) in young UAE adults. Methods This cross-sectional study recruited 140 university students. Body composition and accelerometry was assessed using a Tanita body composition analyser and ActiGraph accelerometer. Differences (p≤0.05) between gender (male vs female) and body mass index (normal vs overweight/obese) were determined using independent samples t-tests and χ2 tests for nominal variables. Results Both males and females spent high amounts of time in SB, encompassing ~80% of waking hours. PA was primarily light intensity (14.1%), although males spent significantly greater time in moderate-to-vigorous intensity activity. Moreover, 50% of males compared with 76.6% of females were classified as sedentary/low active according to daily step counts. Conclusion Our data provide evidence of high levels of SB among young adults in the UAE with PA being predominantly light intensity, therefore, both PA and SB should be carefully monitored in this country.

中文翻译：

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客观量化阿联酋青年人口的体育活动和久坐行为

目标公众对阿拉伯联合酋长国（UAE）从事体育锻炼（PA）的重要性缺乏认识。尽管目前几乎没有加速度计数据，但将近58％的阿联酋成年人口称自己身体不活跃。这项研究的目的是获得第一个客观地量化年轻阿拉伯联合酋长国成年人的PA和久坐行为（SB）的数据集。方法这项横断面研究招募了140名大学生。使用Tanita人体成分分析仪和ActiGraph加速度计评估人体成分和加速度。性别（男性与女性）与体重指数（正常与超重/肥胖）之间的差异（p≤0.05）使用独立样本的t检验和χ2检验作为名义变量。结果男性和女性在SB上花费的时间都很多，约占醒来时间的80％。PA主要是光强度（14.1％），尽管男性在中度至剧烈强度活动上花费的时间明显更多。此外，根据每日步数，将50％的男性与76.6％的女性分类为久坐/低活动。结论我们的数据提供了在阿联酋年轻人中高水平SB的证据，其中PA主要是光强度，因此，在该国应仔细监测PA和SB。