Profiles of children’s physical activity and sedentary behaviour between age 6 and 9: a latent profile and transition analysis

Abstract

BackgroundPhysical activity is associated with improved physical and mental health among children. However, physical activity declines and sedentary time increases with age, and large proportions of older children do not meet the recommended hour per day of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). The aim of this paper is to identify profiles of children based on the complex relationship between physical activity and sedentary time at ages 6 and 9 and explore how those profiles are associated with other covariates and how they change over time.MethodsValid accelerometer data were collected for 1132 children aged 6 and 1121 at age 9, with 565 children with data at both ages. We calculated the proportions of total wear time spent in sedentary, light and MVPA activity on both weekdays and weekends. Latent profile (class) analysis was applied separately to the two age groups to identify activity profiles. We then used latent transition analysis to explore transitions between profiles at the two time points.ResultsWe identified five profiles of activity at age 6 and six profiles at age 9. Although profiles were not directly equivalent, five classes captured similar patterns at both ages and ranged from very active to inactive. At both ages, active profiles, where the majority achieved the recommended MVPA guidelines, were more likely to be active at weekends than on weekdays. There was substantial movement between classes, with strongest patterns of movement to classes with no change or a decrease in MVPA. Transition between classes was associated with sex, BMI z-score, screen-viewing and participation in out-of-school activities.ConclusionsThis paper is the first to apply latent profile analysis to the physical activity of UK children as they move through primary school. Profiles were identified at ages 6 and 9, reflecting different weekday and weekend patterns of physical activity and sedentary time. There was substantial movement between profiles between ages 6 and 9, mostly to no change or less active profiles. Weekend differences suggest that greater focus on how weekend activity contributes to an average of 60 min per day of MVPA across the week may be warranted.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12966-018-0735-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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

“…We analysed MVPA and sedentary time on weekdays and weekend days separately, as previous research [25,26] suggested that levels and patterns of physical activity may differ between weekdays and weekend. We explored four models.…”

A Multilevel Analysis of Neighbourhood, School, Friend and Individual-Level Variation in Primary School Children’s Physical Activity

“…Weekends were different to weekdays, with nearly twice as much total variability at weekends, a smaller proportion explained by known factors, and less clustering of the residual variation. We have previously found [57] that those children who are most inactive tend to be even more so at weekends, highlighting the importance of weekend physical activity. Current research in this area has been dominated by school-based interventions [8,52] with little attention on weekend or other non-school periods, such as school holidays.…”

“…These results therefore suggest that the factors studied in this study explain more about the physical activity of boys than girls. Studies consistently show that boys are more active than girls at all ages [6,36,38,57], but there is little…”

“…These results therefore suggest that the factors studied in this study explain more about the physical activity of boys than girls. Studies consistently show that boys are more active than girls at all ages [6,36,38,57], but there is little evidence that the effect of physical activity behaviour change interventions differs for boys and girls [52], with generally limited impacts for both genders. It may therefore be the case that a greater understanding of the factors that influence children's physical activity is required to promote effective behaviour change programs and, as such, the data from this paper highlight a particular need to look more closely at the individual level predictors of girls' physical activity.…”

Habilidades motoras fundamentais e nível de atividade física de crianças: um estudo com escolares do ensino fundamental

“…Sabe-se, por exemplo, que o NAF em intensidades MV pode proporcionar vários proventos para a saúde das crianças a curto, médio e longo prazo, para além de promover uma combinação favorável para a saúde cardiorrespiratória e metabólica, viabilizando uma maior sensação de bem-estar físico, psíquico e emocional (JÚNIOR et al, 2012;BURNS, 2018). Outro ponto que está bem consolidado na literatura envolve o fato de que os hábitos de AF obtidos na infância podem predizer o NAF na idade adulta (JAGO et al, 2018). Assim, pode ser possível prevenir a obesidade e as doenças relacionadas à hipocinesia, que preocupa os profissionais da saúde pelos riscos associados à saúde das crianças (SILVA-LIMA et al, 2017).…”