Physical activity patterns of ethnic children from low socio-economic environments within the UK

Abstract

Original citation:Eyre, E.L.J. , Duncan, M.J. , Birch, S. , Cox, V. and Blackett, M. (2014) Copyright © and Moral Rights are retained by the author(s) and/ or other copyright owners. This copy may differ from the published PDF. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This item cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder(s). The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. CURVE is the Institutional Repository for Coventry University ABSTRACTMany children fail to meet physical activity (PA) guidelines for health benefits. PA behaviours are complex and depend on numerous interrelated factors. The study aims to develop current understanding of how children from low Socioeconomic environments within the UK, use their surrounding built environments for PA by using advanced technology. The environment was assessed in 96 school children (7 -9 years) using GPS monitoring (Garmin Forerunner, 305). In a subsample of 46 children, the environment and physical activity was assessed using an integrated GPS and heart rate monitor. The percentage of time spent indoor, outdoor, in green and non-green environments along with time spent in MVPA in indoor and outdoor environments were assessed. A 2-by-2 repeated measures ANCOVA, controlling for BMI, BF%, assessed environmental differences. The findings show that 42% of children from deprived wards of Coventry fail to meet PA guidelines, of which 43% was accumulated during school. Children engaged in more MVPA outdoor than indoor environments (p <0.01) and a greater amount of time was spent in non-green environments (p <0.01). Increased time outdoors was negatively associated with BF%. In conclusion, outdoor environments are important for health enhancing PA and reducing fatness in deprived and ethnic children.

Physical Inactivity among Danish and Colombian Adolescents with Lower Level of Family Affluence

“…objective and perceived characteristics of the physical context in which adolescents spend their time, namely local conditions (e.g., home, neighbourhood, crime area), recreational infrastructure (e.g., access to recreational facilities, play areas), and transport infrastructure (e.g. traffic density) are associated with adolescents' participation in PA (Lawman & Wilson, 2012;Eyre, 2015;Babey et al, 2015). The different physical environments of the countries Denmark and Colombia might therefore explain the observed differences in PA level outlined above.…”

“…Nevertheless, young people commonly remain physically inactive and spend the majority of their discretionary time engaging in sedentary pursuits Laws, Bonfiglioli, Hardy, & King, 2013;Colley, Garriguet, Janssen, Craig, Clarke, & Tremblay, 2011;Hamrani, Mehdad, El Kari, El Hamdouchi, El Menchawy, Belghiti, El Mzibri, Musaiger, Al-Hazzaa, Hill, Mokhtar, & Aguenaou, 2015). As one of the reasons, adolescents today have fewer opportunities to be active in a safe and independent manner, especially in large cities where rapid urbanization negatively affects the degree, extend and frequency of PA (Eyre, Duncan, Birch, Cox, & Blackett, 2015). For instance, in Pelotas, Brazil, the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles characterized by excessive TV viewing and lack of PA among adolescents had a prevalence of more than 50% (Azevedo, Menezes, Assunção, Gonçalves, Arumi, Horta, & Hallal, 2014).…”

“…In Europe, levels of physical activity have significantly been decreased over the last years among both, 11 and 15 year old adolescents (Currie, Zanotti, Morgan, Currie, de Looze Roberts, Samdal, Smith, & Barnekow, 2012). A recent study conducted in UK concluded that outdoor environments are important for health-enhancing PA and thus reducing obesity in deprived and ethnic minority children (Eyre et al, 2015). Moreover, in most of the countries boys continue to be significantly more active than girls are (Currie et al, 2012;Graham, Bauer, Friend, Barr-Anderson, & Nuemark-Sztainer, 2014).…”

“…Similarly in Sweden, between 1999 and 2005 increased trends for obesity among 10-11 year old adolescents have been observed with a recently stabilizing obesity rate particularly in urban Sweden (Lissner, Sohlström, Sundblom, & Sjoberg, 2010). In Sweden and the UK obesity and overweight are more common among adolescents from low socioeconomic environments (Lissner, Mehlig, Sjöberg, Chaplin, Niklasson, & Albertsson-Wikland 2013;Eyre et al, 2015).…”

“…Cultural factors related to ethnic origin and societal trends such as urbanisation and environmental issues may contribute to the decrease of PA (Babey et al, 2015;Azevedo et al, 2014;Eyre et al, 2015;Saunders et al, 2014;Henrikson et al, 2015). Therefore, it is relevant to study the underlying factors associated with PA and sedentary behaviours by comparing adolescent populations with different ethnic and societal background in order to reveal the most important factors relevant for the prevention of increasing sedentary behaviours among youth, and in particular, among youth with low socioeconomic background.…”