This file was dowloaded from the institutional repository Brage NIH -brage.bibsys.no/nih Nielsen, G., Hermansen, B., Bugge, A., Dencker, M., Andersen, L. B. (2013).Daily physical activity and sports participation among children from ethnic minorities in Denmark. AbstractPurpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Danish children from immigrant backgrounds are less physically active than children from the ethnic majority, and to investigate possible reasons for any differences found Methods: Accelerometer measures of physical activity as well as questionnaire data about organized sports, family demography, resources and values were collected from 594 children of whom 60 had other ethnic background than Danish. Data were collected when the children were 6-7 years old and again later when the children where 9-10 years old. Results: It was found that children from immigrant backgrounds were not less physically active than other children when their amounts of daily physical activity was measured by direct objective measures, despite their participation rate in organized sports being much lower. Using multiple logistic regression modelling this study showed that lack of parental experience with organized sports and lack of economic/material resources explained much of the difference in sports participation. Conclusion: Children of immigrant background had significant lower participation in club sports but this did not affect their overall physical activity level.

Background: This study investigates the influence of school playground facilities on children's daily physical activity. Methods: Participants were 594 school children measured at preschool (age 6 to 7 years) and 3 years later in third grade (518 children age 9 to 10 years) from 18 schools in 2 suburban municipalities in Denmark. Physical activity data were obtained using accelerometers. These were related to the number of permanent play facilities in school grounds and the school playground area (m 2 ). Results: The number of play facilities in the school grounds was positively associated with all measures of children's activity. In preschool every 10 additional play facilities the children had access to was associated with an increase in the average accelerometer counts of 14% (r = .273, P < .001) in school time and 6.9% (r = .195, P < .001) overall. For the children in third grade, access to 10 additional play facilities was associated with an increase in school time activity level of 26% (r = .364, P < .001) and an increase in overall activity level of 9.4% (r = .211, P < .001). School playground area did not affect activity levels independently of the number of permanent play facilities. Conclusion: Increasing the number of play facilities in primary school playgrounds may increase the level of children's daily physical activity.

The purpose of this study was to investigate by direct measurement the cross-sectional relationship between accelerometer-measured physical activity and peak oxygen uptake (VO(2peak): ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)), in a population-based cohort of young children, since such data are scarce. The study included 468 children (246 boys, 222 girls) aged 6.7 + or - 0.4 years, recruited from a population-based cohort. Peak oxygen uptake was measured by indirect calorimetry during a maximal treadmill exercise test. Physical activity was assessed by accelerometers over a 4-day period. Minutes of sedentary, light, moderate, moderate-to-vigorous, and vigorous activity per day were calculated. Mean counts per minute were considered to reflect total physical activity. Pearson correlation coefficients indicated a weak relationship between daily physical activity variables and VO(2peak) in boys (r = 0.15-0.28, P < 0.05), with the exception of time in sedentary and light activity, which was not related to VO(2peak). None of the daily physical activity variables were related to VO(2peak) in girls, with the exception of a very weak relationship for moderate activity (r = 0.14, P < 0.05). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the various physical activity variables explained between 2 and 8% of the variance in VO(2peak) in boys. In this population-based cohort, most daily activity variables were positively related to aerobic fitness in boys, whereas less clear relationships were observed in girls. Our finding that physical activity was only uniformly related to aerobic fitness in boys partly contradicts previous studies in older children and adolescents.

The aim was to evaluate the possible role of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), low fitness and fatness in the early development of clustering of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and insulin resistance (IR).Subjects for this cross-sectional study were obtained from 18 schools near Copenhagen, DK. Two hundred and ten, 9-year-old children were selected for cytokine analysis from 434 third grade children with complete CVD risk profiles. The subgroup was selected according to their CVD risk factor profile (upper and lower quartile of a composite CVD risk score). All the CVD risk factors and CRP differed between the high and low risk groups, but plasma glucose, TNF-α, and IL-6 had small and inconsistent differences.Strong associations were found between CVD risk scores and fitness (VO 2peak ) or fatness.No associations were found between CVD risk scores and TNF-α and IL-6. CRP was associated with fitness, fatness, and CVD risk score. This study does not support an association between plasma IL-6 or TNF-α and low insulin sensitivity or clustering of CVD risk factors in a young cohort. Inflammation was more pronounced in fat and unfit children based on the association with CRP levels. The association between fitness and fatness variables, insulin resistance and clustered risk could be caused by other mechanisms related to these exposures. The role of IL-6 remains unclear.

This study investigated the predictors of aerobic fitness (VO2PEAK) in young children on a population-base. Participants were 436 children (229 boys and 207 girls) aged 6.7 ± 0.4 yrs. VO2PEAK was measured during a maximal treadmill exercise test. Physical activity was assessed by accelerometers. Total body fat and total fat free mass were estimated from skinfold measurements. Regression analyses indicated that significant predictors for VO2PEAK per kilogram body mass were total body fat, maximal heart rate, sex, and age. Physical activity explained an additional 4-7%. Further analyses showed the main contributing factors for absolute values of VO2PEAK were fat free mass, maximal heart rate, sex, and age. Physical activity explained an additional 3-6%.