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A comparison of physical activity in Gambian and UK children aged 6-18 months
M Lawrence1, F Lawrence, J V Durnin
1Medical Research Council Dunn Nutrition Unit, Keneba, The Gambia.
Insights
UK children aged 6-18 months engaged in significantly more play and vigorous activity than Gambian children. Nutritional or health status did not fully explain these differences in activity patterns.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Cross-Cultural Studies
- Human Movement Science
Background:
- Childhood activity patterns are crucial for development.
- Understanding cross-cultural variations in early childhood activity is important.
- Previous research suggests environmental factors influence child behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the activity patterns of young children in The Gambia and the UK.
- To investigate potential explanations for observed differences in activity levels.
- To explore the role of nutrition, health, and socio-cultural factors.
Main Methods:
- Activity diary technique used to record behaviors.
- Study included 81 Gambian and 53 UK children aged 6, 12, and 18 months.
- Subgroup analysis of Gambian children based on nutritional and health status.
Main Results:
- UK children spent 2-3 times longer in play than Gambian children.
- Vigorous activities like crawling and walking were 2-4 times longer in UK children.
- Small differences in activity were observed between Gambian children based on weight-for-age and recent illness.
Conclusions:
- Significant differences exist in early childhood activity patterns between The Gambia and the UK.
- Nutritional and health status do not fully account for the lower activity levels in Gambian children.
- Socio-cultural factors and toy availability may contribute to observed activity differences.
Abstract:
The activity patterns of 81 Gambian and 53 UK children aged six, 12 or 18 months were compared by means of an activity diary technique. Major differences between communities were observed in the duration of play (2-3 times longer in UK compared to Gambian children) and in the duration of vigorous activities such as crawling, walking and running (2-4 times longer duration in the UK compared to the The Gambia). To investigate whether the lower activity of Gambian children could be explained by differences in nutritional or health status, subgroups of Gambian children were compared. Only small differences in activity pattern were found between Gambian children above and below 80% weight for age and between Gambian children who were or were not diagnosed ill within 10 days of study, suggesting that other factors (e.g. socio-cultural differences or the absence of conventional toys) may explain the lower activity of Gambian compared to UK children.