
Introduction: Childhood and adolescence are stages of development of the human being susceptible to changes in lifestyles where sedentary behaviors can be intensified during activities of daily living. Objective: To determine the sedentarism levels of the students of an Educational Institution of Popayán-Colombia. Materials and methods: A quantitative study of non-experimental type, with descriptive cross-sectional design. The simple stratified sample was obtained under the probabilistic formula composed of 92 students, 51.1% of which were male, with an average age of 12.5 ± 3.21 years. The level of sedentary lifestyle was assessed by the Pérez-Rojas-García drawer test. Results: 79.3% of the population practice sports or physical activity, the body mass index was 72.83% that represents normal weight and according to the sedentary lifestyle test 41.3% are severe sedentary and 43.5 % are moderate sedentary. Conclusion: The school population presents a risk factor for health associated with sedentary behavior.