Accelerometer-measured Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior In Chinese Children And Adolescents: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

PURPOSE: To assess moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behavior (SB) levels of Chinese children and adolescents using accelerometer and to examine the differences between different populations according to gender, age/grade, day (weekdays and weekends) and geographical region. METHODS: Four nline databases were searched for studies published from January 2009 up to February 2019 (PROSPERO2019: CRD42019129888). These studies reported accelerometer-measured daily minutes of MVPA and/or SB among Chinese children and adolescents. Random-effects meta-analysis was used to separately pool the time spent in MVPA and SB. RESULTS: Out of 4754 records, 20 studies were considered to be suitable for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Sample sizes ranged from 96 to 2163. The meta-analysis found that Chinese children and adolescents spent 41.11 min/day, 529.83 min/day in MVPA and SB, respectively. Boys spent more time in MVPA compared with girls (boys’ vs girls: 45.57 vs 36.37 min/day, p = 0.01). Children accumulated significantly more minutes of MVPA than adolescents (children vs adolescents: 43.37 vs 37.52 min/day, p = 0.05), and children spent less time in SB than adolescents (children vs adolescents: 508.79 vs 553.51 min/day, p = 0.05). Unlike weekdays, SB was lower on weekends (weekdays vs weekends: 530.94 vs 486.57, p = 0.02). There were significant differences in Children and adolescents’ MVPA time in regions (Hong Kong vs North China vs South China: 60.55 vs 43.21 vs 36.49 min/day, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: While their SB level is high, MVPA level in Chinese children and adolescents is well below international recommendations. The analyses suggested that boys spent more time in MVPA compared to girls. The MVPA level of Children is higher than adolescents. Children and adolescents living in Hong Kong are more active than in North China and South China. SB level of children is lower than adolescents. Compared with weekdays, SB level of Chinese children and adolescents is lower on weekends.