Abstract
Levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior among adolescents seem to vary within different settings, but few Asian studies have compared physical activity and sedentary activity patterns in adolescents across weekdays/weekends and during-school time/after-school time. This study aimed to provide objectively measured data describing intensity-specific physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns in Taiwanese adolescents. The results were sorted by gender and divided between weekdays/weekends and during-school time/after-school time. A total of 470 Taiwanese students (49.6% boys, ages 12–15 y) were recruited and fitted with GT3X+ accelerometers for seven days. Intensity-specific physical activity, total sedentary time, and sedentary bouts (number and duration ≥30 min) were measured. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to examine the significant differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns between the genders on weekdays/weekends and during school/after-school time. The results show that the adolescents’ overall activity levels were below recommended thresholds, with girls engaging in significantly less moderate to vigorous physical activity, having longer sedentary time, longer time spent in sedentary bouts, and more frequent sedentary bouts than boys. Similar results were observed in physical activities of each intensity as well as sedentary behavior variables, both on weekdays/weekends and during-school/after-school periods. These findings emphasize the importance of developing and implementing approaches to increase moderate to vigorous physical activity, as well as decrease prolonged sedentary time and long sedentary bouts, especially for Taiwanese girls.
Highlights
Physical inactivity is known to negatively affect both mental and physical health in adolescents [1].The World Health Organization advocates that adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) [2]; MVPA levels in adolescents are commonly lower than 60 min per day [3]
We found that Taiwanese adolescents engaged in insufficient daily MVPA (22.8 min/day) compared to the guideline recommendations for physical activity
Our results show that there are gender differences in the patterns of physical activity and sedentary behavior, and we observed that adolescent boys are more active in MVPA and spend less time being sedentary than girls
Summary
Physical inactivity is known to negatively affect both mental and physical health in adolescents [1]. The World Health Organization advocates that adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) [2]; MVPA levels in adolescents are commonly lower than 60 min per day [3]. Data indicate that a substantial majority of adolescents (approximately 80% of 13- to 15-year-olds) do not meet the physical activity guideline [4]. This means that roughly four out of every five adolescents globally are insufficiently physically. Res. Public Health 2019, 16, 4392; doi:10.3390/ijerph16224392 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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