Objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children with bronchiectasis: a cross-sectional...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric respiratory health
• Exercise science
• Public health

Background:

• Bronchiectasis significantly impacts children's respiratory health and healthcare use.
• Current guidelines recommend physical activity (PA) for improved fitness and quality of life (QoL) in pediatric bronchiectasis.
• Objective data on PA levels and sedentary behavior in this population were previously lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To objectively measure physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior in children with bronchiectasis.
• To compare PA levels against current health guidelines.
• To assess compliance with recommended daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and step counts.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 46 children (4-14 years) with bronchiectasis.
• Used ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometers to objectively measure daily sedentary time, light PA, and MVPA over 7 days.
• Compared objective measurements to established PA guidelines and normative data from healthy children.

Main Results:

• 36 children completed measurements; average daily MVPA was 48.6 minutes, with ~7 hours of sedentary time.
• Only 5.6% of children met the 60-minute daily MVPA recommendation, significantly lower than healthy peers (42.1%).
• Average daily step counts were 8229, well below the recommended 12,000 steps, unlike healthy children (11,500-14,500 steps).

Conclusions:

• Children with bronchiectasis demonstrate insufficient physical activity for health benefits.
• There is a substantial need for interventions to promote PA and reduce sedentary behavior in this cohort.
• Findings underscore the importance of addressing activity levels to improve health outcomes in pediatric bronchiectasis.