Tri-axial accelerometer-assessed physical activity and its association with weight status in a sample of elementary-school children

Objective assessment of physical activity (PA) using accelerometers and pedometers has become more accurate and common practice in the study of childhood overweight. The study aimed: i) to compare PA levels and body shape of boys and girls, and assess compliance of active children with the PA recomm...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Obesity research & clinical practice 2023-05, Vol.17 (3), p.192-197
Main Authors: Machado-Rodrigues, Aristides M., Rodrigues, Daniela, Gama, Augusta, Nogueira, Helena, Silva, Maria-Raquel G., Mascarenhas, Luís P., Padez, Cristina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accelerometry
Active Behaviour
Child
Children
Exercise
Female
Humans
Life Style
Male
Obesity
Overweight
Pediatric Obesity - epidemiology
Pediatric Obesity - etiology
Pediatric Obesity - prevention & control
Public Health
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective assessment of physical activity (PA) using accelerometers and pedometers has become more accurate and common practice in the study of childhood overweight. The study aimed: i) to compare PA levels and body shape of boys and girls, and assess compliance of active children with the PA recommendation; ii) to analyse associations between the risk of overweight and the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in children. The sample comprised 395 children (198 girls) aged 6–10 years. Height and weight were measured, and BMI was calculated subsequently. A tri-axial accelerometer was used to obtain seven consecutive days of MVPA, as well as the weekly time being sedentary. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the afore-mentioned relationship among the risk of obesity and MVPA, controlling for confounders. After controlling for wearing time, boys spent significantly more minutes in the moderate-to-vigorous portion of PA than their female counterparts. About 47% of boys were active on week days by achieve the mean value of 60 min/day of MVPA; corresponding percentage for the weekend was just 32%. Among girls, only 22% were active on week days and 29% at the weekend. MVPA was not significantly associated with the risk of being overweight nor in female neither in male children. The final regression model revealed that girls of mothers with high educational level were less likely to be classified as overweight girls. Findings revealed no significantly relation between MVPA and obesity risk among Portuguese children. Future research should extend similar design to other lifestyle features of children to clarify potential predictors of being overweight at early ages. •The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends active behaviours to manage the concerning prevalence of childhood obesity.•The majority of children of both sexes did not meet the current daily physical activity (PA) guidelines.•The worst prevalence rates of active children were observed at the weekend (i.e. just about 30% of children were active).•Girls of mothers with high educational level were less likely to be classified as overweight.
ISSN:1871-403X
1878-0318
DOI:10.1016/j.orcp.2023.04.003