Objectively measured activity in 8-10-year-old Turkish children: relationship to health-related fitness

Full-Day Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour Levels of Typically Developing Children and Adolescents in the Middle East: A Systematic Review

Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) are important components of physical behaviour associated with long-term health outcomes. Environmental and cultural factors may influence physical behaviour. To explore full day PA and SB in children and adolescents (2-18 years old) in the Middle East, a systematic literature review was performed including 183 journal articles. A wide range of PA and SB outcomes were reported, in some cases making synthesis of results difficult. As a consequence, results were generally reported narratively (MVPA time, total PA, SB time). Meta-regression of daily step count revealed females took 4600 fewer steps than males, with 3000 fewer steps on weekdays than weekends, and overweight individuals taking 2800 fewer steps/day. Steps decreased with age. Meta-regression for TV viewing time demonstrated an increase by 0.04 h per year of age. Even though environmental and cultural conditions may be different, PA and SB of children and adolescents in the Middle East were largely comparable to those of Europeans and North Americans. The wide range of data collection instruments used (both self-report questionnaire and body-worn devices) and heterogeneity of data made synthesis of reported data across studies very difficult, suggesting a need for greater standardisation of data collection methods.

Frequency and duration of physical activity bouts in school-aged children: A comparison within and between days

Understanding how physical activity (PA) patterns vary within and between days may guide PA promotion in young people. We aimed to 1) describe and compare the frequency (bouts/day) and duration (min/bout) of bouts of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) on weekdays vs. weekends and in-school vs. out-of-school, and 2) assess associations of bout frequency and duration in these time-segments with overall PA. We used cross-sectional accelerometer data from 2737 children (aged 6-19 years) in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2006. A bout was defined as MVPA (≥ 2000 counts per minute [cpm]) lasting ≥ 3 min. Adjusted Wald tests were used to assess differences in bout characteristics between time-segments. Linear regression was used to examine the association of time-segment specific bout characteristics with daily minutes of MVPA and PA volume (average cpm). Bout frequency was higher on weekdays than weekends (median [IQR] 4.3 [2.2-7.2] vs. 3.0 [1.0-6.5] bouts/day, p < 0.001); however, bout duration did not differ (4.7 [4.0-5.7] vs. 4.5 [3.7-5.8] min/bout, p = 0.33). More bouts were accumulated out-of-school compared with in-school (2.2 [1.0-4.0] vs. 1.8 [0.8-3.2] bouts/day, p < 0.001), but bout duration was similar (4.7 [3.8-5.8] vs. 4.5 [3.8-5.7] min/bout, p = 0.158). For all time-segments, the frequency and duration of bouts of MVPA were independently and positively associated with overall MVPA and PA volume. In conclusion, the characteristics of children's PA vary within and between days; accounting for this in intervention design may improve future interventions. However, increasing bout frequency or duration in any time-segment may be beneficial for overall PA.

Insights into physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk in young children: IDEFICS study

The association between physical activity and cardiovascular disease risk factors in children has been the focus of research for over two decades. The majority of this research has focused on children over 10 years of age with little information on very young children. The data recently published in BMC Medicine by Jiménez-Pavón and colleagues suggest that adverse cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk profiles, as indicated by a clustered risk score for the metabolic syndrome, are evident in very young children (two to six years of age), but differ between the sexes. The authors evaluated the relationship of CVD risk profiles and protective levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and concluded that boys aged six years or younger needed >60 minutes of MVPA per day, whereas boys from six to nine years of age needed >80 minutes of MVPA per day; girls in either age group needed approximately 15 minutes less. Therefore, when clinicians recommend physical activity for children they should evaluate "at risk" children on a case-by-case basis rather than using generalized guidelines.