Association of Age, Sex, and Weight with Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in a Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes Population

Abstract

Current guidelines from the ADA recommend that children and adolescents with T1D engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) every day. However, subjectivity of MVPA reporting methods and short study durations compromise the applicability of existing data; there is not a clear picture of MVPA in this population. Therefore, objective measures of MVPA in children and adolescents with T1D are necessary to better understand the importance of other factors related to MVPA like sex, age, and weight. In a prospective cohort of 1children and adolescents with T1D, physical activity was objectively monitored for 6 months using commercially available activity monitors. Weekly MVPA was summarized as the average number of hours of MVPA for weeks with valid activity monitor use. Regular weekly MVPA in children and adolescents was described by age, sex, and weight. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to assess associations. In the study population, we observed an average (SD) weekly MVPA of 2.4 (1.7) hours and median (Q1, Q3) weekly MVPA of 1.9 (0.9, 3.0) hours. Sex was significantly associated with MVPA (p<0.0001) with average (SD) weekly MVPA of 3.5 (2.4) hours for males and 1.4 (1.0) hours for females. There was no significant difference in weekly MVPA between children (8-12 years) and adolescents (13-17 years). Interestingly, overweight children (BMI z-score above 85th percentile) were more active than non-overweight children (average weekly MVPA of 3.0 and 2.1 hours respectively), however this difference was not statistically significant. This study presents data on MVPA in children and adolescents with T1D over a long duration using objectively measured physical activity. Our results suggest that sex is an important factor associated with MVPA and that over 75% of children in this population do not regularly meet the ADA MVPA recommendations. Disclosure N.E. Thompson: None. D.A. Watson: None. T.L. Barnes: None. L.M. Gandrud: Consultant; Self; UnitedHealth Group.