Early Life Physical Activity Patterns and Its Survival to Adult Activity Levels: The Longitudinal ABIS Study

The impact of physical activity during early-life is significant on long-term health outcomes. The aim of this study was to determine what factors contribute to the continuity or change in activity behaviors over time.

Out of 21,700 children born on Oct 1st, 1997 to Oct 1st, 1999, 17,055 (78.6%) were included in ABIS (All Babies in southeast Sweden) of whom 16,415 participants were included in this longitudinal prospective population-based birth cohort. Logistic regression was conducted to assess associations between the activity score and independent variables, with results presented as odds ratios, 95% confidence intervals, p values, and correlation coefficients (r values).

At age 3, high physical activity (Q2) was correlated to: living in a house (r = 0.881, p = 0.003) with both parents (r = 0.833, p < 0.001), ≥1 siblings (r = 0.876, p < 0.001), having a dog (r = 0.773, p < 0.001), high parental education (r = 0.817, p < 0.001) and parents working part time (0-50%) (r = 0.496, p < 0.001). These factors were persistent at age 5, 8, 10-12 years. Participation in sports had strong correlation with Q2 from age 8- to 17-23-years (r = 0.763, p < 0.001). Less physical activity (Q1) was correlated to: at age 3 parental less education (r = 0.816, p < 0.001) with full time work (r = 0.816, p < 0.001), no siblings (r = 0.835, p = 0.004), child lives in split custody (r = 0.736, p < 0.001), and mother smoking (r = 0.789, p = 0.032). These patterns seemed persistent at age 5, 8, 10-12 years with Q1. Lower parental smoking was associated to higher physical activity in children.

The study identifies key factors affecting children and adolescents' physical activity, providing insights for targeted interventions.