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Monitoring of Physical Activity in Young Children: How Much Is Enough?
Victoria Penpraze1, John J Reilly2, Christina M MacLean3
1University of Glasgow, Institute of Diet, Exercise and Lifestyle, Faculty of Biological and Life Sciences, West Medical Building, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
Insights
Measuring physical activity (PA) in young children requires careful consideration of monitoring duration. This study found that 7 days of accelerometry monitoring for 10 hours daily provides reliable PA measurements in children, suggesting shorter periods may suffice.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Exercise Physiology
- Biometry
Background:
- Limited evidence exists on optimal accelerometry monitoring duration for representative physical activity (PA) assessment in young children.
- Accurate PA measurement is crucial for understanding child development and health outcomes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the optimal number of days and hours for accelerometry monitoring to achieve reliable PA measurements in young children.
- To assess the impact of monitoring duration and inclusion of weekend days on measurement reliability.
Main Methods:
- Seventy-six children (mean age 5.6 years) were monitored for 7 days using Actigraph accelerometers.
- Daily PA was quantified as counts per minute (cpm).
- Reliability was assessed based on varying monitoring durations (days and hours).
Main Results:
- Measurement reliability increased with more monitoring days and hours, plateauing at 10 hours per day.
- 7 days of monitoring for 10 hours daily yielded 80% reliability (95% CI [70%, 86%]).
- The number of monitoring days was more critical for reliability than the number of hours per day.
Conclusions:
- A monitoring period of 7 days for 10 hours daily provides the highest reliability for PA assessment in young children.
- Shorter monitoring periods may offer adequate reliability, challenging previous assumptions.
- Weekend day inclusion had minimal impact on overall reliability.
Abstract:
There is limited evidence on how much and on which days accelerometry monitoring should be performed to obtain a representative measurement of physical activity (PA) in young children. We measured 76 children (40 M and 36 F, mean age 5.6 years ([SD ± 0.4]) on 7 days using Actigraph accelerometers. Mean daily PA was expressed in counts per min (cpm). Reliability increased as the number of days and hours of monitoring increased, but only to 10 hr per day. At 7 days of monitoring for 10 hr per day, reliability was 80% (95% CI [70%, 86%]). The number of days was more important to reliability than the number of hours. The inclusion or exclusion of weekend days made relatively little difference. A monitoring period of 7 days for 10 hr per day produced the highest reliability. Surprisingly short monitoring periods may provide adequate reliability in young children.
