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Tracking of accelerometer-measured physical activity in early childhood
Nicholas M Edwards1, Philip R Khoury, Heidi J Kalkwarf
1Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
Insights
Physical activity tracking from ages 3 to 7 showed that active boys maintained higher activity levels. Early childhood physical activity patterns differ between boys and girls.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Human Movement Science
- Child Development
Background:
- Establishing and maintaining healthy physical activity (PA) levels is crucial throughout childhood.
- Understanding the long-term tracking of physical activity from early childhood is essential for developing effective interventions.
- Previous research indicates variability in physical activity patterns during childhood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the extent of physical activity (PA) tracking between the ages of 3 and 7 years.
- To examine sex-specific differences in physical activity tracking during early childhood.
- To determine if early physical activity levels predict later activity levels in children.
Main Methods:
- Objective measurement of physical activity using triaxial accelerometers (RT3) collected every 4 months from ages 3-7.
- Analysis of data from 234 children with complete PA measures for each year of age.
- Calculation of mean total PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), and inactivity (IA) adjusted for wear time.
Main Results:
- Correlations between age 3 PA and subsequent years showed moderate tracking at age 4 but declined by age 7.
- Boys in the highest tertile of MVPA at age 3 maintained significantly higher PA at all subsequent ages.
- Girls in the highest tertile of MVPA at age 3 did not show significantly higher PA at ages 6 and 7.
- Children in the highest tertile of inactivity (IA) at age 3 exhibited significantly higher IA at ages 5 and 6.
Conclusions:
- Boys who were relatively more physically active at age 3 tended to remain more active in subsequent years.
- These findings suggest that early childhood physical activity patterns are somewhat stable, particularly in boys.
- Significant sex differences exist in the tracking of physical activity and inactivity during early childhood.
Abstract:
Establishing and maintaining healthy physical activity (PA) levels is important throughout life. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of PA tracking between ages 3 and 7 y. Objective measures of PA (RT3, triaxial accelerometer) were collected every 4 mo from ages 3-7; data from 234 children with PA measures available during each year of age were analyzed. Mean PA (total, moderate/vigorous (MV), and inactivity [IA]) was calculated for each year of age and adjusted for wear time. Correlations with age 3 PA were moderate at age 4 (r = .42-.45) but declined by age 7 (r = .19-.25). After classification into sex-specific tertiles of PA at age 3, boys in the high age 3 MVPA tertile maintained significantly higher PA at all subsequent ages, while girls in the high age 3 MVPA tertile were not significantly higher at age 6 and 7. Boys and girls in the high age 3 IA tertile had significantly higher IA at multiple subsequent years of age (p < .05 at ages 5 and 6). In conclusion, boys who were relatively more active at age 3 remained more active for several subsequent years. These findings highlight early-childhood differences in physical activity patterns between boys and girls.
