Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity Levels and Patterns Vary in an Age- and Sex-Dependent Fashion among Finnish Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to measure physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and hour-by-hour PA patterns with an accelerometer in a population-based sample of Finnish children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 3274 participants (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th graders) from 176 schools wore a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer for seven days during waking hours. Mean amplitude deviation of the acceleration data was used to assess PA intensity that was converted to metabolic equivalents and categorized into light, moderate, and vigorous PA. Angle for posture estimation was used to measure SB and standing. Results: The majority of participants’ PA consisted of light PA, and they were sedentary for more than half of their waking hours. Children were more active than adolescents, and boys were more active than girls. Participants took, on average, 9890 steps daily, and one third met the PA recommendation. The participants were divided into tertiles based on daily steps to investigate the variation in PA patterns. Compared to the least active tertile, the most active tertile took twice as many steps on weekdays and nearly three times as many steps on the weekend. Conclusions: The majority of the participants were not active enough, and there was a great variation in PA levels and patterns, especially among the adolescents and on weekends.

Longitudinal physical activity patterns and the development of cardiometabolic risk factors during adolescence

“…One explanation might be that the reference group was not extremely inactive (with mean MVPA 47 min/day at age 15), even if it was below the PA recommendation for children and adolescents, that is, at least 60 min/day of MVPA 38 . The population in the present study represented young people who were more active than the average in Finland, with the mean daily MVPA being 8 min more than that found in a previous population‐based study 10,39 . Furthermore, 39% of the participants in the present study were still participating in sports club as young adults.…”

“…38 The population in the present study represented young people who were more active than the average in Finland, with the mean daily MVPA being 8 min more than that found in a previous population-based study. 10,39 Furthermore, 39% of the participants in the present study were still participating in sports club as young adults. The result demonstrates that the consequences of both decreased and increased PA can be seen even when the reference group is that of young people who maintain a relatively low-but not extremely low-level of activity from adolescence to young adulthood.…”

The Effectiveness of Impact of Physical Activity on the Thinking Indicators of School Children

“…From a physiological point of view, in all likelihood, physical exercises increase the activity of metabolic processes [2,5,41]. Under the influence of physical exercises, blood circulation improves [42 -46] as a result of which mental processes are mobilized.…”

The Effect of Physical Activity on the Memory of Schoolchildren

“…From a physiological point of view, in all likelihood, physical exercises increase the activity of metabolic processes (Bailey, 2006;Kelly et al, 2021;Jussila et al, 2022). Under the influence of physical exercises, blood circulation improves (Yachmenev and Rubanovich, 2018;Leahy et al, 2019;Grüne et al, 2020), as a result of which mental processes are mobilized.…”

“…The topic of children's health and development is always relevant (Leisterer and Gramlich, 2021;Jussila et al, 2022;Peterson et al, 2022;Silva et al, 2022). From early childhood and throughout life, people try to make health stable, stable to the effects of adverse factors.…”