BackgroundThe primary aim of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) was to determine the relationships between lifestyle behaviours and obesity in a multi-national study of children, and to investigate the influence of higher-order characteristics such as behavioural settings, and the physical, social and policy environments, on the observed relationships within and between countries.Methods/designThe targeted sample included 6000 10-year old children from 12 countries in five major geographic regions of the world (Europe, Africa, the Americas, South-East Asia, and the Western Pacific). The protocol included procedures to collect data at the individual level (lifestyle, diet and physical activity questionnaires, accelerometry), family and neighborhood level (parental questionnaires), and the school environment (school administrator questionnaire and school audit tool). A standard study protocol was developed for implementation in all regions of the world. A rigorous system of training and certification of study personnel was developed and implemented, including web-based training modules and regional in-person training meetings.DiscussionThe results of this study will provide a robust examination of the correlates of adiposity and obesity in children, focusing on both sides of the energy balance equation. The results will also provide important new information that will inform the development of lifestyle, environmental, and policy interventions to address and prevent childhood obesity that may be culturally adapted for implementation around the world. ISCOLE represents a multi-national collaboration among all world regions, and represents a global effort to increase research understanding, capacity and infrastructure in childhood obesity.

PurposePreviously, studies examining correlates of sedentary behavior have been limited by small sample size, restricted geographic area, and little socio-cultural variability. Further, few studies have examined correlates of total sedentary time (SED) and screen time (ST) in the same population. This study aimed to investigate correlates of SED and ST in children around the world.MethodsThe sample included 5,844 children (45.6% boys, mean age = 10.4 years) from study sites in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, India, Kenya, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Child- and parent-reported behavioral, household, and neighborhood characteristics and directly measured anthropometric and accelerometer data were obtained. Twenty-one potential correlates of SED and ST were examined using multilevel models, adjusting for sex, age, and highest parental education, with school and study site as random effects. Variables that were moderately associated with SED and/or ST in univariate analyses (p<0.10) were included in the final models. Variables that remained significant in the final models (p<0.05) were considered correlates of SED and/or ST.ResultsChildren averaged 8.6 hours of daily SED, and 54.2% of children failed to meet ST guidelines. In all study sites, boys reported higher ST, were less likely to meet ST guidelines, and had higher BMI z-scores than girls. In 9 of 12 sites, girls engaged in significantly more SED than boys. Common correlates of higher SED and ST included poor weight status, not meeting physical activity guidelines, and having a TV or a computer in the bedroom.ConclusionsIn this global sample many common correlates of SED and ST were identified, some of which are easily modifiable (e.g., removing TV from the bedroom), and others that may require more intense behavioral interventions (e.g., increasing physical activity). Future work should incorporate these findings into the development of culturally meaningful public health messages.

Body composition is known to be associated with several diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. Body composition measurements are useful in assessing the effectiveness of nutritional interventions and monitoring the changes associated with growth and disease conditions. Changes in body composition occur when there is a mismatch between nutrient intake and requirement. Altered body composition is observed in conditions such as wasting and stunting when the nutritional intake may be inadequate. Overnutrition on the other hand leads to obesity. Many techniques are available for body composition assessment, which range from simple indirect measures to more sophisticated direct volumetric measurements. Some of the methods that are used today include anthropometry, tracer dilution, densitometry, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, air displacement plethysmography and bioelectrical impedance analysis. The methods vary in their precision and accuracy. Imaging techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography have become powerful tools due to their ability of visualizing and quantifying tissues, organs, or constituents such as muscle and adipose tissue. However, these methods are still considered to be research tools due to their cost and complexity of use. This review was aimed to describe the commonly used methods for body composition analysis and provide a brief introduction on the latest techniques available.

Greater MVPA and VPA were both associated with lower odds of obesity independent of sedentary behavior. Sedentary time was positively associated with obesity, but not independent of MVPA. Attaining at least 55 min·d of MVPA is associated with lower obesity in this multinational sample of children, which supports current guidelines.

BackgroundWe compared 24-hour waist-worn accelerometer wear time characteristics of 9–11 year old children in the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) to similarly aged U.S. children providing waking-hours waist-worn accelerometer data in the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).MethodsValid cases were defined as having ≥4 days with ≥10 hours of waking wear time in a 24-hour period, including one weekend day. Previously published algorithms for extracting total sleep episode time from 24-hour accelerometer data and for identifying wear time (in both the 24-hour and waking-hours protocols) were applied. The number of valid days obtained and a ratio (percent) of valid cases to the number of participants originally wearing an accelerometer were computed for both ISCOLE and NHANES. Given the two surveys’ discrepant sampling designs, wear time (minutes/day, hours/day) from U.S. ISCOLE was compared to NHANES using a meta-analytic approach. Wear time for the 11 additional countries participating in ISCOLE were graphically compared with NHANES.Results491 U.S. ISCOLE children (9.92±0.03 years of age [M±SE]) and 586 NHANES children (10.43 ± 0.04 years of age) were deemed valid cases. The ratio of valid cases to the number of participants originally wearing an accelerometer was 76.7% in U.S. ISCOLE and 62.6% in NHANES. Wear time averaged 1357.0 ± 4.2 minutes per 24-hour day in ISCOLE. Waking wear time was 884.4 ± 2.2 minutes/day for U.S. ISCOLE children and 822.6 ± 4.3 minutes/day in NHANES children (difference = 61.8 minutes/day, p < 0.001). Wear time characteristics were consistently higher in all ISCOLE study sites compared to the NHANES protocol.ConclusionsA 24-hour waist-worn accelerometry protocol implemented in U.S. children produced 22.6 out of 24 hours of possible wear time, and 61.8 more minutes/day of waking wear time than a similarly implemented and processed waking wear time waist-worn accelerometry protocol. Consistent results were obtained internationally. The 24-hour protocol may produce an important increase in wear time compliance that also provides an opportunity to study the total sleep episode time separate and distinct from physical activity and sedentary time detected during waking-hours.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT01722500.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12966-015-0172-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.