Weekday–weekend variations in mother-/father–child physical activity and screen time relationship: A cross-sectional study in a random sample of Czech families with 5- to 12-year-old children

This study assessed the associations between these factors in a random sample of Czech families with preschool and school-aged children. A nationally representative sample comprised 185 families with preschool children and 649 families with school-aged children (dyads; both parents and child n?=?365, mother and child n?=?730, and father and child n?=?469). The participants wore Yamax Digiwalker SW-200 pedometers at least four weekdays and both weekend days and completed family logbooks (anthropometric parameters, daily step counts (SC), and screen time (ST)). When a parent (fathers at weekends and mothers both on weekdays and at weekends) achieved 10,000 SC per day, their children were also significantly (OR?=?2.93–6.06, 95% CI?=?2.02–9.26) more likely to meet the daily SC recommendation. On the contrary, the involvement of fathers in organized leisure-time PA reduced their children's odds of meeting the SC recommendation on weekdays (OR?=?0.53, 95% CI?=?0.31–0.89) and at weekends (OR?=?0.41, 95% CI?=?0.24–0.72). The excessive ST of parents at weekends reduced the odds of their children meeting the SC recommendation (mother–child dyads: OR?=?0.44, 95% CI?=?0.26–0.72; father–child dyads: OR?=?0.63, 95% CI?=?0.37–1.06). High levels of parents’ PA contribute to the achievement of the recommended daily PA in children on weekdays and at weekends. Excessive weekend ST of parents reduces their odds of their children achieving the recommended daily PA; however, the influence of parents’ PA on their children’s achieving the recommended daily PA is stronger than the inhibitory effect of ST.     

Physical activity and chronic back conditions: A population-based pooled study of 60,134 adults

BackgroundLittle is known about the association between different types of physical activity (PA) and chronic back conditions (CBCs) at the population level. We investigated the association between levels of total and type-specific PA participation and CBCs.MethodsThe sample comprised 60,134 adults aged ≥16 years who participated in the Health Survey for England and Scottish Health Survey from 1994 to 2008. Multiple logistic regression models, adjusted for potential confounders, were used to examine the association between total and type-specific PA volume (walking, domestic activity, sport/exercise, cycling, football/rugby, running/jogging, manual work, and housework) and the prevalence of CBCs.ResultsWe found an inverse association between total PA volume and prevalence of CBCs. Compared with inactive participants, the fully adjusted odds ratio (OR) for very active participants (≥15 metabolic equivalent h/week) was 0.77 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.69–0.85). Participants reporting ≥300 min/week of moderate-intensity activity and ≥75 min/week of vigorous-intensity activity had 24% (95%CI: 6%–39%) and 21% (95%CI: 11%–30%) lower odds of CBCs, respectively. Higher odds of CBCs were observed for participation in high-level manual domestic activity (OR = 1.22; 95%CI: 1.00–1.48). Sport/exercise was associated with CBCs in a less consistent manner (e.g., OR = 1.18 (95%CI: 1.06–1.32) for low levels and OR = 0.82 (95%CI: 0.72–0.93) for high levels of sport/exercise).ConclusionPA volume is inversely associated with the prevalence of CBCs.     

Middle school physical education physical activity quantification: a pedometer steps/min guideline

The objective of the study was to improve physical activity (PA) surveillance of the Healthy People 2010 Objective 22:10 (i.e., 50% of the lesson time engaged in PA) by establishing a pedometer steps/min guideline to quantify time engaged in PA during physical education. A sample of 180 middle school students had their PA measured via pedometry (steps/min) and behavioral observation (PA time). Factorial analyses of variance were used to examine PA differences. Linear and logistic regression, decision accuracy, and receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) statistics were used to test steps/min cut points against the 50% PA recommendation. PA differences were not found (p > .01). Steps/min was a significant (p < or = .01) predictor of PA time, and the binary outcome of meeting or not meeting the PA recommendation. A steps/min interval of 82-88 was an accurate indicator of the 50% PA recommendation. The ROC statistic was .97 (p < or = .01), suggesting steps/min was an excellent discriminator of the binary outcome. Pedometer steps/min is a valid, objective, and practical approach for surveillance of physical education PA, a key physical education and public health outcome.     

Middle School Physical Education Physical Activity Quantification

The objective of the study was to improve physical activity (PA) surveillance of the Healthy People 2010 Objective 22:10 (i.e., 50% of the lesson time engaged in PA) by establishing a pedometer steps/min guideline to quantify time engaged in PA during physical education. A sample of 180 middle school students had their PA measured via pedometry (steps/min) and behavioral observation (PA time). Factorial analyses of variance were used to examine PA differences. Linear and logistic regression, decision accuracy, and receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) statistics were used to test steps/min cut points against the 50% PA recommendation. PA differences were not found (p > .01). Steps/min was a significant (p ≤ .01) predictor of PA time, and the binary outcome of meeting or not meeting the PA recommendation. A steps/min interval of 82–88 was an accurate indicator of the 50% PA recommendation. The ROC statistic was .97 (p ≤ .01), suggesting steps/min was an excellent discriminator of the binary outcome. Pedometer steps/min is a valid, objective, and practical approach for surveillance of physical education PA, a key physical education and public health outcome.     

An Examination of Sport Participation Tracking and Adult Physical Activity for Participants of the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study

ABSTRACT

Research tracking sport participation from youth to adulthood is relatively rare, as is research that tracks youth sport participation with regard to adult physical activity (PA) levels, especially in the United States. Aims of this study were: 1) To investigate the degree to which sport participation tracked across youth, adolescence, and early adulthood in a sample of participants from the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study (MPS), and 2) Determine if differences existed in their levels of adult PA relative to prior sport participation. In total, 256 (60.8%) former participants from the MPS completed follow-up surveys regarding routine sport participation and PA across the previous year. Sport participation tracked consistently from youth to college. Further, regardless of the level of youth sport participation, adult leisure time PA was relatively consistent among groups. Although the study did not directly test the influence of the MPS on subsequent adult outcomes, our findings suggest that participants’ past sport participation was not a good predictor of adult PA for those who were involved in a program that emphasized fundamental motor skills in youth. Further investigation of such programs can help to better inform their influence on adult PA.     

Association of leisure time and occupational physical activity with obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in Chile

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between physical activity (PA), both occupational (OPA) and during leisure time (LTPA), with obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in Chilean adults. 5,157 participants from the Chilean National Health Survey 2009–2010 were included in this study. OPA and LTPA levels were assessed using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. The association between both PA with obesity and cardiovascular risk factors was determined using logistic regression. Our findings showed a significant trend between higher LTPA and lower odds for obesity (OR 0.64 [95% CI: 0.53; 0.76], central obesity 0.52 [0.44; 0.61]) and other cardiovascular risk factors including diabetes (OR: 0.72 [0.55; 0.94]), hypertension (OR: 0.59 [0.50; 0.71]) and metabolic syndrome (OR: 0.62 [0.50; 0.78]). In contrast, OPA was only associated with lower odds of diabetes (OR: 0.79 [0.65; 0.98]) and hypertension (0.85 [0.74; 0.98]). In conclusion, LTPA was associated with a lower risk of all major cardiovascular risk factors, whereas OPA was only associated with a lower risk of diabetes and hypertension.     

Compensatory changes in physical activity and sedentary time in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis

Physical activity (PA) is a key element in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) treatment strategies, yet little is known as to whether activity compensation occurs. This study examined whether PA and/or sedentary time on one day were temporally associated with time spent in these intensities the following day in youth with CF. Time spent sedentary and in different PA intensities were objectively-measured for seven consecutive days in 50 youth (22 boys; 12.0 ± 2.7 years); 25 with mild-to-moderate CF and 25 age- and sex-matched controls. Multilevel analyses (day and child) were conducted using generalised linear latent and mixed models. On any given day, every additional 10 minutes spent in sedentary time or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were associated with 1.9 (95%CI: ?3.6 to ?1.2) and 12.4 (95%CI: ?22.1 to ?2.9) minutes less sedentary time the following day, respectively. These temporal associations were also observed when split by group (3.1 vs. 1.9 minutes for healthy and CF, respectively). These findings indicate that youth do not compensate their PA, irrespective of disease status, between days, but may compensate their sedentary time between days. Experimental studies are warranted to fully elucidate whether compensatory responses to PA and sedentary time occur, which is fundamental for informing PA promotion strategies.     

Daily steps in midlife and older adults: relationship with demographic, self-rated health, and self-reported physical activity

The relationship between average daily step counts and age, body mass index (BMI), self-reported physical activity (PA) level, and perceived health was determined in 85 middle-aged and older adults who wore a pedometer for 7 consecutive days. Average daily steps were significantly (p < .05) correlated with BMI (r = -.26), age (r = -.44) and perceived health (r = .53) but not with self-reported PA level (r = .19). The adjusted percentage of participants classified as meeting the PA recommendation in < or = 5,000, 5,001-9,999, and > or = 10,000 steps/day categories ranged from 53 to 61%. These findings support previous evidence in younger populations suggesting that the recommended minimal level of health-related PA may be achieved despite not accumulating 10,000 steps/day.     

Influence of moderate intensity physical activity levels and gender on conditioned pain modulation

This study examined the potential influence of moderate intensity physical activity (PA) levels and gender on central pain modulation using conditioned pain modulation (CPM) in healthy men and women. Twenty four individuals (12 men and 12 women) who reported engaging in the moderate intensity PA for 150 min or more per week and 24 individuals (12 men and 12 women) who reported engaging in moderate intensity PA for 60 min or less per week completed a self-report PA questionnaire and a 7-day PA assessment using an accelerometer. Furthermore, the participants completed the CPM testing to evaluate the efficiency of central pain modulation. The active individuals scored higher on the PA questionnaire and spent more minutes for light, lifestyle, moderate and vigorous intensity PA than the less active individuals. The active men and women exhibited comparable magnitudes of CPM, and showed a greater magnitude of CPM when compared to their less active counterparts. However, these beneficial effects of higher dose moderate intensity PA disappeared when time spent for vigorous intensity PA was statistically controlled for. These results suggest that the higher dose moderate intensity PA does not add to the benefits from vigorous intensity PA to further improve central pain modulatory systems.     

Comparing physical activity estimates in children from hip-worn Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers using raw and counts based processing methods

This study examined differences in physical activity (PA) estimates provided from raw and counts processing methods. One hundred and sixty-five children (87 girls) wore a hip-mounted ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer for 7 days. Data were available for 129 participants. Time in moderate PA (MPA), vigorous PA (VPA) and moderate-vigorous PA (MVPA) were calculated using R-package GGIR and ActiLife. Participants meeting the wear time criteria for both processing methods were included in the analysis. Time spent in MPA (?21.4 min.d^?1, 95%CI ?21 to ?20) and VPA (?36 min.d^?1, 95%CI ?40 to ?33) from count data were higher (P < 0.001) than raw data. Time spent in MVPA between the two processing methods revealed significant differences (All P < 0.001). Bland-Altman plots suggest that the mean bias for time spent in MPA, VPA and MVPA were large when comparing raw and count methods. Equivalence tests showed that estimates from raw and count processing methods across all activity intensities lacked equivalence. Lack of equivalence and poor agreement between raw and count processing methods suggest the two approaches to estimate PA are not comparable. Further work to facilitate the comparison of findings between studies that process and report raw and count physical activity data may be necessary.     

Inter-participant variability in daily physical activity and sedentary time among male youth sport footballers: independent associations with indicators of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness

Participation in youth sport is assumed to promote and contribute towards more physically active lifestyles among children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine inter-participant variability in objectively measured habitual physical activity (PA) behaviours and sedentary time among youth sport participants and their implications for health. One-hundred-and-eighteen male youth sport footballers (Mean ± s = 11.72 ± 1.60) wore a GT3X accelerometer for 7 days. Average daily PA [min · day^?1, in light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA) and combined moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA)] and sedentary time were calculated. Participants’ body mass index adjusted for age and sex (BMI–standard deviation score), per cent body fat (BF%), waist circumference and cardiorespiratory fitness were assessed. Results revealed that variability in daily PA behaviours and sedentary time (min · day^?1) was associated with BMI–standard deviation score [VPA (?), MVPA (?)], BF% [sedentary time (+), VPA (?), MVPA (?)], waist circumference [sedentary time (+), LPA (?)] and cardiorespiratory fitness [sedentary time (?), MPA (+), VPA (+), MVPA (+)]. Whilst sedentary time and MVPA were not related to health outcomes independent of one another, associations with markers of adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness were stronger for sedentary time. Sedentary time was also significantly positively related to waist circumference independent of VPA. Results demonstrate inter-participant variability in habitual PA and sedentary time among youth sport participants which holds implications for their health. Thus, promoting PA and, in particular, reducing sedentary time may contribute towards the prevention of adverse health consequences associated with a physically inactive lifestyle for children and adolescents active in the youth sport context.     

Patterns of physical activity and overweight among 7-13-year-old Russian children: a 7-year nationally representative monitoring study

This is a repeated cross-sectional study of overweight and physical activity (PA) and inactivity patterns of successive samples of 7-13-year-old Russian children who were surveyed six times between 1995 and 2002 as part of the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey. This analysis focused on moderate/vigorous (MOD/VIG) PA (e.g., active commuting to school, during school MOD/VIG PA as part of physical education classes, and/or before/after school MOD/VIG PA) and inactivity patterns (e.g, television viewing habits) obtained through parent proxy-reports of 3,507 boys (M age = 10.1 years, SD = 2.0; body mass index = 17.5 kg/m2, SD = 3.0) and 3,273 girls (M age = 10.1 years, SD = 2.0; body mass index = 17.2 kg/m2, SD = 3.0). Time spent in MOD/VIG PA appears to be on the rise, while the proportion of those actively commuting to school is decreasing, especially among girls.     

Meeting 24-h movement guidelines: Prevalence,correlates, and the relationships with overweight and obesity among Chinese children and adolescents

BackgroundMeeting 24-h movement guidelines by children and adolescents has been associated with improved indicators of health, although it has been under-studied in China. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines, its correlates, and its relationships with body mass index in children and adolescents in China.MethodsCross-sectional data from the 2017 Youth Study in China of 114,072 children and adolescents (mean age = 13.75 years, 49.18% boys) were used. Meeting 24-h movement guidelines (≥60 min of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, ≤2 h of daily leisure screen time, 9–11 h and 8–10 h nightly sleep duration for 6–13-year-olds and 14–17-year-olds, respectively) and height and weight of all participants were assessed. The prevalence of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and World Health Organization weight status categories were determined. Generalized linear models were used to determine the correlates of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and the relationships of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines with overweight (OW) and obesity (OB).ResultsOnly 5.12% of Chinese children and adolescents met the 24-h movement guidelines, and 22.44% were classified as OW/OB. Older children and adolescents were less likely to meet the 24-h movement guidelines. Parental education level and family income were positively related to meeting the 24-h movement guidelines. Children and adolescents meeting the 24-h movement guidelines showed lower odds ratios for OW/OB. Compared with participants meeting the 24-h movement guidelines, boys in 4th–6th grades met none of the recommendations (OR = 1.22, 95%CI: 1.06–1.40), met the screen time recommendation only (OR = 1.13, 95%CI: 1.01–1.28), met the nightly sleep duration recommendation only (OR = 1.14, 95%CI: 1.03–1.28), and had significantly higher odds ratios for OW/OB. Similar trends were observed for girls in 4th–6th grades: meeting none of the guidelines (OR = 1.35, 95%CI: 1.14–1.59), meeting sleep duration guidelines only (OR = 1.23, 95%CI: 1.08–1.39), and meeting moderate-to-vigorous physical activity + nightly sleep duration guidelines (OR = 1.24, 95%CI: 1.01–1.54). For girls in 7th–9th grades, the following trend was observed: meeting none of the guidelines (OR = 1.30, 95%CI: 1.01–1.67).ConclusionVery few Chinese children and adolescents met the 24-h movement guidelines. Age (negatively correlated), parental education level, and family income (both positively correlated) were correlates of meeting the 24-h movement guidelines. Children and adolescents meeting the 24-h movement guidelines were more likely to have lower risks for OW/OB, especially in the youngest age group (Grades 4–6); and girls in the middle age group (Grades 7–9) were also more likely to have lower risks for OW/OB. Further research studies should explore additional correlates and determinants for meeting the 24-h movement guidelines. Also, future studies should use longitudinal or interventional designs to determine the relationships between meeting the 24-h movement guidelines and OW/OB and other health indicators, while taking sex and age differences into account.     

Adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines in children with mental,behavioral, and developmental disorders: Data from the 2016–2020 National Survey of Children's Health

BackgroundAdopting a healthy lifestyle during childhood could improve physical and mental health outcomes in adulthood and reduce relevant disease burdens. However, the lifestyles of children with mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders (MBDDs) remains under-described within the literature of public health field. This study aimed to examine adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines among children with MBDDs compared to population norms and whether these differences are affected by demographic characteristics.MethodsData were from the 2016–2020 National Survey of Children's Health—A national, population-based, cross-sectional study. We used the data of 119,406 children aged 6–17 years, which included 38,571 participants with at least 1 MBDD and 80,835 without. Adherence to the 24-hour movement guidelines was measured using parent-reported physical activity, screen time, and sleep duration.ResultsAmong children with MBDDs, 20.3%, 37.0%, 60.7%, and 77.3% met the physical activity, screen time, sleep, and at least 1 of the 24-hour movement guidelines. These rates were lower than those in children without MBDDs (22.8%, 46.2%, 66.7%, and 83.4%, respectively; all p < 0.001). Children with MBDDs were less likely to meet these guidelines (odds ratio (OR) = 1.21, 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.13–1.30; OR = 1.37, 95%CI: 1.29–1.45; OR = 1.29, 95%CI: 1.21–1.37; OR = 1.45, 95%CI: 1.35–1.56) than children without MBDDs. Children with emotional disorders had the highest odds of not meeting these guidelines (OR = 1.43, 95%CI: 1.29–1.57; OR = 1.48, 95%CI: 1.37–1.60; OR = 1.49, 95%CI: 1.39–1.61; OR = 1.72, 95%CI: 1.57–1.88) in comparison to children with other MBDDs. Among children aged 12–17 years, the difference in proportion of meeting physical activity and screen time guidelines for children with vs. children without MBDD was larger than that among children aged 6–11 years. Furthermore, the above difference of meeting physical activity guidelines in ethnic minority children was smaller than that in white children.ConclusionChildren with MBDDs were less likely to meet individual or combined 24-hour movement guidelines than children without MBDDs. In educational and clinical settings, the primary focus should be on increasing physical activity and limiting screen time in children aged 12–17 years who have MBDDs; and specifically for white children who have MBDDs, increasing physical activity may help.     

Prospective associations between joint categories of physical activity and insomnia symptoms with onset of poor mental health in a population-based cohort

BackgroundPhysical inactivity and insomnia symptoms are independently associated with increased risk of depression and anxiety; however, few studies jointly examine these risk factors. This study aimed to prospectively examine the joint association of physical activity (PA) and insomnia symptoms with onset of poor mental health in adults.MethodsParticipants from the 2013 to 2018 annual waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia panel study who had good mental health (Mental Health Inventory-5 >54) in 2013, and who completed at least 1 follow-up survey (2014–2018), were included (n = 10,977). Poor mental health (Mental Health Inventory-5 ≤ 54) was assessed annually. Baseline (2013) PA was classified as high/moderate/low, and insomnia symptoms (i.e., trouble sleeping) were classified as no insomnia symptoms/insomnia symptoms, with 6 mutually exclusive PA-insomnia symptom groups derived. Associations of PA–insomnia symptom groups with onset of poor mental health were examined using discrete-time proportional-hazards logit-hazard models.ResultsThere were 2322 new cases of poor mental health (21.2%). Relative to the high PA/no insomnia symptoms group, there were higher odds (odds ratio and 95% confidence interval (95%CI)) of poor mental health among the high PA/insomnia symptoms (OR = 1.87, 95%CI: 1.57–2.23), moderate PA/insomnia symptoms (OR = 1.93, 95%CI: 1.61–2.31), low PA/insomnia symptoms (OR = 2.33, 95%CI: 1.96–2.78), and low PA/no insomnia symptoms (OR = 1.14, 95%CI: 1.01–1.29) groups. Any level of PA combined with insomnia symptoms was associated with increased odds of poor mental health, with the odds increasing as PA decreased.ConclusionThese findings highlight the potential benefit of interventions targeting both PA and insomnia symptoms for promoting mental health.     

Calibration of context-specific survey items to assess youth physical activity behaviour

This study tests calibration models to re-scale context-specific physical activity (PA) items to accelerometer-derived PA. A total of 195 4th–12th grades children wore an Actigraph monitor and completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ) one week later. The relative time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA_%) obtained from the Actigraph at recess, PE, lunch, after-school, evening and weekend was matched with a respective item score obtained from the PAQ’s. Item scores from 145 participants were calibrated against objective MVPA_% using multiple linear regression with age, and sex as additional predictors. Predicted minutes of MVPA for school, out-of-school and total week were tested in the remaining sample (n = 50) using equivalence testing. The results showed that PAQ β-weights ranged from 0.06 (lunch) to 4.94 (PE) MVPA_% (P < 0.05) and models root mean square error ranged from 4.2% (evening) to 20.2% (recess). When applied to an independent sample, differences between PAQ and accelerometer MVPA at school and out-of-school ranged from ?15.6 to +3.8 min and the PAQ was within 10–15% of accelerometer measured activity. This study demonstrated that context-specific items can be calibrated to predict minutes of MVPA in groups of youth during in- and out-of-school periods.     

Evaluation of an unstructured afterschool physical activity programme for disadvantaged youth

The purpose of the study was to conduct an evaluation of an unstructured afterschool physical activity (PA) programme (Keep it Moving!; KIM) in an ethnically diverse and low socio-economic status (SES) school district. PA of students in 3rd–5th grades (N = 205) at four elementary schools were assessed during spring 2012. An ActiGraph accelerometer was utilised to examine objectively measured time and steps in differing intensity levels. Standard data reduction procedures were used to process collected data and characterise PA. Students averaged approximately 54 min of accelerometer wear-time during the KIM programme, 10.4 ± 6.1 min (19.2%) of which were spent in sedentary behaviour, 28.2 ± 8.3 min (52.1%) in light PA and 15.6 ± 6.6 min (28.7%) in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA. Within the cadence band of 1–19 steps/min participants accumulated the highest time-derived PA (16.4 ± 6.3 min). In total, children averaged 1811.9 ± 527.5 steps during the entire KIM programme. Results from the programme indicated that elementary-aged students received additional PA through the KIM programme. The mean value of accumulated steps during the afterschool PA programme represented 12–16.5% of the minimum steps/day target (depending upon gender) identified for elementary-aged school children. These data represent unique findings from a high-need population that may be helpful for researchers and practitioners alike.     

Sex-specific associations of moderate and vigorous physical activity with physical fitness in adolescents

The present study examined the sex-specific associations of moderate and vigorous physical activity (VPA) with physical fitness in 300 Japanese adolescents aged 12–14 years. Participants were asked to wear an accelerometer to evaluate physical activity (PA) levels of various intensities (i.e. moderate PA (MPA), 3–5.9 metabolic equivalents (METs); VPA, ≥6 METs; moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), ≥3 METs). Eight fitness items were assessed (grip strength, bent-leg sit-up, sit-and-reach, side step, 50?m sprint, standing long jump, handball throw, and distance running) as part of the Japanese standardised fitness test. A fitness composite score was calculated using Japanese fitness norms, and participants were categorised according to their score from category A (most fit) to category E (least fit), with participants in categories D and E defined as having low fitness. It was found that for boys, accumulating more than 80.7?min/day of MVPA may reduce the probability of low fitness (odds ratio (ORs) [95% confidence interval (CI)]?=?0.17 [0.06–0.47], p?=?.001). For girls, accumulating only 8.4?min of VPA could reduce the likelihood of exhibiting low fitness (ORs [95% CI]?=?0.23 [0.05–0.89], p?=?.032). These results reveal that there are sex-specific differences in the relationship between PA and physical fitness in adolescents, suggesting that sex-specific PA recommendation may be needed to improve physical fitness in adolescents.     

Canadian children's and youth's adherence to the 24-h movement guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic: A decision tree analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to use decision tree modeling to generate profiles of children and youth who were more and less likely to meet the Canadian 24-h movement guidelines during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.MethodsData for this study were from a nationally representative sample of 1472 Canadian parents (Mean_age = 45.12, SD = 7.55) of children (5–11 years old) or youth (12–17 years old). Data were collected in April 2020 via an online survey. Survey items assessed demographic, behavioral, social, micro-environmental, and macro-environmental characteristics. Four decision trees of adherence and non-adherence to all movement recommendations combined and each individual movement recommendation (physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep) were generated.ResultsResults revealed specific combinations of adherence and non-adherence characteristics. Characteristics associated with adherence to the recommendation(s) included high parental perceived capability to restrict screen time, annual household income of ≥ CAD 100,000, increases in children's and youth's outdoor PA/sport since the COVID-19 outbreak began, being a boy, having parents younger than 43 years old, and small increases in children's and youth's sleep duration since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Characteristics associated with non-adherence to the recommendation(s) included low parental perceived capability to restrict screen time, youth aged 12–17 years, decreases in children's and youth's outdoor PA/sport since the COVID-19 outbreak began, primary residences located in all provinces except Quebec, low parental perceived capability to support children's and youth's sleep and PA, and annual household income of ≤ CAD 99,999.ConclusionOur results show that specific characteristics interact to contribute to (non)adherence to the movement behavior recommendations. Results highlight the importance of targeting parents’ perceived capability for the promotion of children's and youth's movement behaviors during challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic, paying particular attention to enhancing parental perceived capability to restrict screen time.