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Physical activity values in two- to seven-year-old children measured by accelerometer over five consecutive 24-hour
Ana Gutiérrez-Hervás1, Ernesto Cortés-Castell, Mercedes Juste-Ruíz
1Universidad de Alicante. ana.gutierrez@ua.es.
Insights
Preschool children who are overweight or obese engage in less physical activity. Boys generally exhibit higher physical activity levels than girls, with activity decreasing as weight status increases in boys.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric physical activity research
- Childhood obesity and health
Background:
- Interpreting accelerometer data for preschooler physical activity is challenging due to varying cut-off points.
- Establishing reliable reference values for daily physical activity in young children is crucial for accurate assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze physical activity in children aged 2-7 years.
- To establish normative reference values for daily physical activity in this age group.
Main Methods:
- An observational study involving 136 children aged 2-7 years.
- Physical activity was measured continuously over 120 hours using accelerometers.
- Statistical analyses included t-tests, ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and multivariate modeling to establish percentiles of normality.
Main Results:
- Boys and underweight/normal-weight children showed higher physical activity levels compared to girls and overweight/obese children, respectively.
- Physical activity decreased with increasing weight status in boys, while girls in extreme BMI categories showed higher activity.
- Multivariate analysis confirmed significant differences in physical activity based on gender and weight status (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Overweight and obese preschool children exhibit lower physical activity levels than their normal-weight peers.
- Boys generally demonstrate higher physical activity levels than girls.
- Weight status and gender are significant factors influencing physical activity in preschool children.
Introduction:
interpretation of accelerometer-derived physical activity in preschool children is confounded by differences in cut-off points.
Aim:
the purpose of this study was to analyze physical activity in 2-to-7-year-old children to establish reference values for daily activity.
Methods:
observational study in children aged 2-7 years, without chronic diseases and whose parents provided informed consent. The main variable was physical activity, measured continuously over 120 hours (three workdays and two weekend days) by accelerometer. Secondary variables were weight status (body mass index [BMI] Z-score) and gender. The relationship between the main variable and secondary variables was determined through the t-test, ANOVA and the Pearson correlation coefficient. A multivariate model was used to obtain the standard deviation (SD) of all possible combinations of values, constructing percentiles of normality (x ± SD and x ± 2·SD).
Results:
one hundred and thirty-six children (35% of municipality children) were included in the study (54.4% of them were girls). Their weight status distribution was: 25 underweight (18.4%), 54 normal weight (39.7%), 12 risk of overweight (8.8%), 22 overweight (16.2%) and 23 obese (16.8%). The median age was 5.7 years and the mean physical activity was 592 counts/minute. The boys undertook more physical activity (p = 0.031) and the underweight and normal-weight children undertook more physical activity than the overweight and obese children (p = 0.012). There were no significant differences according to age. The multivariate analysis showed significant differences (p < 0.001) according to gender and weight status. In boys, physical activity decreased as weight status increased. In contrast, the girls in the extreme BMI groups obtained higher levels of physical activity.
Conclusion:
overweight and obese preschool children had lower levels of physical activity than normal weight children. Physical activity levels were higher in boys.
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