Introduction:

Lifestyles have a strong influence on quality of life. In turn, physical inactivity is one of the most harmful lifestyles that generates disability and lost years of life, due to its role in the genesis and exacerbation of chronic non-communicable diseases.

Objective:

To determine the levels of physical activity and associated factors in the adult population of Pereira municipality.

Methods:

Analytical cross-sectional study. It was estimated a sample of 1000 participants in the ages from 18 to 64. Physical activity levels were measured with the long version of the international questionnaire of physical activity. Bivariate analyses were performed.

Results:

The total number of participants was 996. The overall prevalence of compliance with recommendations in physical activity of the study was 52.9%, in which the domain of moderate physical activity prevailed. Subjects of higher socio-economic status obtained lower prevalences of physical activity. In terms of schooling level, the categories of technologist (58%) and secondary school level (57%) reached the highest prevalence of compliance with minimum recommendations.

Conclusions:

A little more than half of the adult population of Pereira meets the minimum recommendations for physical activity, predominating moderate intensity activity; however, the average presents problems of overweight and obesity. It is important to promote the practice of moderate to high intensity physical activity and involve all socio-economic strata.