Methodological approaches for investigating the biological basis for physical activity in children

In this insightful article, Eisenmann and Wickel bring together diverse areas of animal and human research to address the issue of the existence of an "activity stat," or biological basis for activity, outlining the evidence accumulated in this area since Rowland's excellent commentary in 1998. As the authors state, there has been progress in this area over the last 10 years, however there are still a limited number of studies that specifically address the possible existence of an activity stat in children, whether the strength of this varies by age, sex or culture, the degree of influence of environmental and social factors on this set-point and therefore the crucial question-if activity level is under central control are activity interventions doomed to failure?