Physical activity and sedentary behavior in preschoolers: a longitudinal assessment of trajectories and determinants

Abstract

BackgroundDespite physical activity (PA) being recognized as a critically important factor for good physical and mental health already early in life and throughout the life course, prospective data on activity behavior during the preschool years remains scarce. This study examined trajectories and determinants of levels and change in total PA (TPA), moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in a representative sample of Swiss preschoolers.MethodsData were drawn from the Swiss Preschoolers’ Health Study (SPLASHY), a multi-site prospective cohort study including 555 children (53% boys) aged 2-to-6 years at baseline. A follow-up was conducted after 12 months. Activity behavior was measured using accelerometers. Information on 35 potential determinants from different socio-ecological domains was either directly measured or parent-reported. Trajectories of TPA, MVPA and SB over time were described for boys and girls. Linear mixed models were used to investigate factors that predicted levels and change in TPA, MVPA and SB.ResultsAll children were sufficiently physically active according to published recommendations for preschoolers. Trajectory profiles revealed a marked increase in TPA and MVPA in boys and girls whereas SB remained fairly stable over time. Mixed modeling demonstrated that variables most relevant to determining PA levels were sex, age and activity temperament (all positively associated). Together with gross motor skills, birth weight, family structure (only for TPA) and season (only for MVPA), these factors accounted for 26 and 32% of total variance explained in TPA and MVPA, respectively. Activity temperament emerged as the strongest determinant of SB (negative association) and explained with sex, season and family structure 20% of total variance in SB. The presence of older siblings was the only factor that predicted change in PA over time.ConclusionsIn this healthy physically active cohort of preschoolers, non-modifiable individual-level factors had the greatest influence on PA. The limited success of this and previous studies to identify modifiable determinants and the finding that most preschoolers were sufficiently active suggest that future attempts should provide insights into how preschoolers’ activity levels can be maintained and fostered to prevent subsequent harmful declines attributable, amongst others, to educational transitions. Thus, good-quality longitudinal studies are needed.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN41045021 (date of registration: 21.03.14).Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-018-0670-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Understanding physical activity and sedentary behaviour among preschool-aged children in Singapore: a mixed-methods approach

“…Accelerometer data revealed that children engaged in less than half an hour of MVPA and almost 8 hours of SB per day in our sample, indicating a sedentary lifestyle at a young age in Singapore. Compared with our findings, studies in the USA, 34 Canada 35 and Australia 36 showed that preschool-aged children spent much more time in MVPA and less in SB. Although research among early childhood is limited in Asia, similarly low levels of PA and high levels of SB were objectively measured and reported in Japanese preschoolers.…”

Objectively-measured sedentary time and physical activity in a bi-ethnic sample of young children: variation by socio-demographic, temporal and perinatal factors

“…Most children in this study were measured when they were younger than 5y and hence we may have missed this transition, because we found that sedentary time decreased with advancing age in both ethnic groups, and levels of MVPA and vector magnitude CPM increased. This spike in MVPA (which precedes an age-related decline throughout the life-course [42]) has been reported previously and is often attributed to young children mastering movement skills [43,44]. We observed that older white British children performed more light physical activity than younger white British children, but there were no such differences in South Asian children.…”

Association of BMI category with change in children’s physical activity between ages 6 and 11 years: a longitudinal study

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