When Are Children Most Physically Active? An Analysis of Preschool Age Children’s Physical Activity Levels
Díaz-Quesada, Gema, Gálvez-Calabria, María de los Ángeles, Connor, Jonathan D., and Torres-Luque, Gema (2022) When Are Children Most Physically Active? An Analysis of Preschool Age Children’s Physical Activity Levels. Children, 9 (7). 1015.
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Abstract
The levels of physical activity (PA) in the population have decreased, especially at an early age. The aims of the study were: to evaluate the percentage of children meeting PA recommendations for both genders, and to measure steps and PA level at different time intervals during the week. This was an observational cross-sectional study. Seventy-three schoolchildren (36 boys and 37 girls), aged two years (2.12 ± 0.46), were selected to participate in this study. Participants wore an “Actigraph GT3X” accelerometer for seven days to measure the minutes engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and step volume. The results show 100% of the children studied met the recommended 60 min/day of MVPA, and 50% achieved 120 min/day MVPA and 13,000 steps per day. No gender differences were found. The results of the analysis show a propensity for higher step volumes and PA values from Monday to Friday. In addition, subjects achieved higher step volumes and PA values during “School Time” than “Out-of-School Time”. Given that during “School Time” children showed higher PA and step values, schools represent an important place to help facilitate PA milestones. This study shows the need for further studies and interventions aimed at understanding and improving children’s PA levels at an early age.
| Item ID: | 76492 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 2227-9067 |
| Keywords: | childhood, physical activity, wearable technology |
| Copyright Information: | © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Date Deposited: | 29 Nov 2022 23:59 |
| FoR Codes: | 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4207 Sports science and exercise > 420703 Motor control @ 80% 32 BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES > 3213 Paediatrics > 321301 Adolescent health @ 20% |
| SEO Codes: | 20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200501 Adolescent health @ 50% 13 CULTURE AND SOCIETY > 1306 Sport, exercise and recreation > 130601 Exercise @ 50% |
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