Researchers have rarely addressed the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and physical activity from the perspective of youth. To illuminate the factors that youth from low and high-SES areas consider important to increase physical activity participation among their peers, 160 youth (12-18 years) participated in small focus group interviews. Guiding questions centered on the general theme, "If you were the one in charge of increasing the physical activity levels of kids your age, what would you do?" Findings show that environmental factors (i.e., proximity, cost, facilities, and safety) are very important for youth living in low-SES areas to ensure participation in physical activity. Results also show that intrapersonal (i.e., perceived skill, competence, time) and social factors (i.e., friends, adult support) must be considered to help improve participation rates among both high- and low-SES youth.

High levels of inactivity in youth have led researchers and practitioners to focus on identifying the factors that influence physical activity behaviors in young people. The present study employed a qualitative ecological framework to examine the intrapersonal, social, and environmental factors influencing youth physical activity. In grade-specific focus group settings, 160 youth in grades 7 through 12 (aged 12 to 18) were asked how they would increase the physical activity levels of youth their age. Participants identified eight factors that they felt should be addressed in programs and interventions designed to increase the physical activity behaviors of youth. These factors included the importance of fun, having the time to be physically active, the benefits of activity, being active with friends, the role of adults, and the importance of being able to access facilities in their neighborhood.

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Background: Childhood obesity is a growing concern for public health. Given a majority of children in many countries spend approximately 30 h per week in early childcare centers, this environment represents a promising setting for implementing strategies to foster healthy behaviours for preventing and controlling childhood obesity. Healthy Start-Départ Santé was designed to promote physical activity, physical literacy, and healthy eating among preschoolers. The objectives of this study are to assess the effectiveness of the Healthy Start-Départ Santé intervention in improving physical activity levels, physical literacy, and healthy eating among preschoolers attending early childcare centers.

The authors describe the influence of childhood and adolescent physical activity on adult physical activity attitudes and behaviors. They conducted one-on-one, semistructured, indepth interviews with 16 men and 15 women from a longitudinal growth and development study and a follow-up investigation 25 years later. They used thematic analyses to analyze the data. Three themes emerged from the men's interviews: significant others, size and maturation, and physical ability, with clear distinctions among the active, average, and inactive men. The themes transitions, body image concerns, and significant others influenced the active, average, and inactive women. Specific relationships, circumstances, and attitudes formed in childhood and adolescence influenced adult physical activity predilection and behaviors.

IntroductionChildcare educators may be role models for healthy eating and physical activity (PA) behaviours among young children. This study aimed to identify which childcare educators’ practices are associated with preschoolers’ dietary intake and PA levels.MethodsThis cross-sectional analysis included 723 preschoolers from 50 randomly selected childcare centres in two Canadian provinces. All data were collected in the fall of 2013 and 2014 and analysed in the fall of 2015. PA was assessed using Actical accelerometers during childcare hours for 5 consecutive days. Children’s dietary intake was measured at lunch on 2 consecutive days using weighed plate waste and digital photography. Childcare educators’ nutrition practices (modelling, nutrition education, satiety recognition, verbal encouragement and not using food as rewards) and PA practices (informal and formal PA promotion) were assessed by direct observation over the course of 2 days, using the Nutrition and Physical Activity Self-Assessment for Child Care tool. Associations between educators’ practices and preschoolers’ PA and dietary intake were examined using multilevel linear regressions.ResultsOverall, modelling of healthy eating was positively associated with children’s intake of sugar (β=0.141, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.27), while calorie (β=−0.456, 95% CI −1.46 to –0.02) and fibre intake (β=−0.066, 95% CI −0.12 to –0.01) were negatively associated with providing nutrition education. Not using food as rewards was also negatively associated with fat intake (β=−0.144, 95% CI −0.52 to –0.002). None of the educators’ PA practices were associated with children’s participation in PA.ConclusionsModelling healthy eating, providing nutrition education and not using food as rewards are associated with children’s dietary intake at lunch in childcare centres, highlighting the role that educators play in shaping preschoolers’ eating behaviours. Although PA practices were not associated with children’s PA levels, there is a need to reduce sedentary time in childcare centres.

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Introduction Increasingly, physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SED) are independently being associated with physical, mental and emotional well-being. The heightened research interest in this area has resulted in an upsurge of accelerometer usage to objectively quantify PA and SED. However, these epidemiological investigations consistently ignore systematic variation in the number of hours participants wear accelerometers each day (i.e., systematic accelerometer wear-time variation), and this has a direct impact on measured activity. Objectives Using three different cohorts (3-5 years ─ N=83; 10-14years ─ N=455; and 18 years and older ─ N=21), this study aims to validate a standardization methodology to minimize measurement bias due to accelerometer wear-time variation. Methods In epidemiological studies, accelerometry is generally conducted over seven consecutive days, and participants' data are considered 'valid' only if wear-time is at least 10 hours/day. However, there could be systematic wear-time variation even within 'valid' data. To explore this variation, accelerometer data from two studies set in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan were analyzed: Smart Cities, Healthy Kids (smartcitieshealthykids.com) and Healthy Start (http://www.canadainmotion.ca/healthy_start/). Subsequently, a standardization method was developed where case-specific observed wear-time was controlled for using an 'analyst specified' time period. Next, case-specific accelerometer data were interpolated to this controlled wear-time to produce standardized variables. To understand discrepancies owing to wear-time variation, identical analyses were conducted with data from all three cohorts both pre-and post-standardization. The results of these identical analyses were compared to objectively validate the standardization methodology. Results In all three cohorts, descriptive analyses revealed systematic wear-time variation between participants. Again, in all three cohorts, pre-and post-standardized analyses of the three outcome variables (SED, light physical activity and moderate vigorous physical activity) that cover the whole range of human activities revealed an identical and often significant trend of wear-time's influence on activity. For instance, SED which was consistently higher during weekdays pre-standardization, proved to be higher during weekends post-standardization. Conclusions Analyzing accelerometer data without standardizing wear-time will cause biased results and erroneous conclusions. Standardizing accelerometer data using the above mentioned methodology produces stable variables and a uniform platform to compare results between studies, irrespective of the studies' sample size or age characteristics.