More of the same or a change of scenery: an observational study of variety and frequency of physical activity in British children

BMC Public Health

Esther MF van Sluijs⁴  Ulf Ekelund²  Simon J Griffin¹  Kirsten Corder⁴  Hannah L Brooke³ 

[1] Primary Care Unit, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sports Sciences, PO Box 4014, Oslo, Ullevål Stadion 0806, Norway;UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK;MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

关键词: Public health;    Intervention;    Primary school;    Accelerometer;    Physical activity;    Children;   

Others  :  1161921
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-761

 received in 2013-01-15, accepted in 2013-08-14,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

Physical activity is important for children’s health, but successful physical activity promotion is challenging. Whether performing many different types of activities (Variety) is associated with higher physical activity independent of the number of activity sessions (Frequency) is unknown, but this information could inform physical activity promotion and public health strategies in children.

Methods

In the SPEEDY study we measured moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA; ≥2000 counts/minute) over 7 days using GT1M Actigraph accelerometers in 1700 children from Norfolk, UK (56% girls, Mean ± SD 10.3 ± 0.3 years-old). Children reported participation in 28 leisure-time activities over the previous 7 days. Sex differences in activity participation were assessed using multilevel logistic regression, clustered by school. Associations of log-transformed MVPA with z-score-Variety (number of different activities/week) and z-score-Frequency (sum of all activity sessions/week) were examined using multilevel linear regression, adjusted for age, sex, parental education and age-standardised BMI.

Results

Children’s activity participation often reflected gender stereotypes. Mean ± SD Variety was 10.8 ± 5.0 activities/week, and Frequency was 24.2±15.0 sessions/week. In separate models lnMVPA had similar strength, positive associations with z-score-Variety and z-score-Frequency (Exp β(95% CI); Variety 1.04(1.02-1.06), Frequency 1.04(1.02-1.06)). lnMVPA was not associated with z-score-Variety independent of z-score-Frequency (Variety 1.01(0.98-1.04), Frequency 1.03(1.00-1.06)).

Conclusions

Future physical activity interventions and public health strategies could allow for gender specific activity preferences and could target both Variety and Frequency of activities participated in by children.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Brooke et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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