Objectively measured physical activity of young Canadian children using accelerometry

• Published in: Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism Vol. 40; no. 12; pp. 1302 - 1308
• Main Authors: Borkhoff, Cornelia M, Heale, Liane D, Anderson, Laura N, Tremblay, Mark S, Maguire, Jonathon L, Parkin, Patricia C, Birken, Catherine S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada NRC Research Press 01.12.2015; Canadian Science Publishing NRC Research Press
• Subjects: accelerometer; Accelerometers; accéléromètre; Actigraphy - instrumentation; activité physique; Age Factors; Analysis; Canada; Canadians; Child; Child Behavior; Child, Preschool; Children; Children & youth; Cross-Sectional Studies; directives; enfant d’âge préscolaire; Exercise; Female; guidelines; Health Behavior; Humans; Infant; Male; Motor Activity; nourrisson; Ontario; Pediatric Obesity - diagnosis; Pediatric Obesity - physiopathology; Pediatric Obesity - prevention & control; Pediatric Obesity - psychology; physical activity; Physical fitness; Physiological aspects; preschool; Risk Factors; Risk Reduction Behavior; Sedentary Lifestyle; Sex Factors; Time Factors; toddler; tout-petit; Canada; Ontario; enfant d’âge préscolaire; toddler; nourrisson; tout-petit; activité physique; directives; accelerometer; accéléromètre; guidelines; preschool; infant; physical activity
• ISSN: 1715-5312; 1715-5320
• DOI: 10.1139/apnm-2015-0164

The objective of the study was to describe objectively measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary time of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and determine the proportion meeting Canadian age-specific PA guidelines. Ninety children (47 girls, 43 boys; mean age 32 (range, 4–70) months) attending scheduled health supervision visits and in the TARGet Kids! (The Applied Research Group for Kids) cohort wore an Actical accelerometer for 7 days. Participants with 4 or more valid days were included in the analysis. Time, in mean minutes per day (min/day), spent sedentary and in light PA, moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), and total PA was determined using published cut-points; age groups were compared using ANOVA. Twenty-three percent of children <18 months (n = 28) and 76% of children aged 18–59 months (n = 45) met the guideline of 180 min/day of total PA; 13% of children ≥60 months (n = 17) met the guideline of 60 min/day of MVPA. Children <18 months spent more of their waking time per day engaged in sedentary behaviours (79%; ∼7.3 h) compared with children aged 18–59 months (63%; ∼6.6 h) and children ≥60 months (58%; ∼6.6 h). In conclusion, most children aged 18–59 months met the Canadian PA guidelines for children aged 0–4 years, whereas few younger than 18 months met the same guidelines. Only 13% of children ≥5 years met their age-specific PA guidelines. Further research is needed to develop, test, and implement effective strategies to promote PA and reduce sedentary behaviour in very young children.