Body mass index, weekday and weekend days step counts for Fifth grade Costa Rican children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the differences in physical activity levels (pedometer step count) over a seven day period between normal weight and overweight/obese fifth grade Costa Rican boys and girls. Children’s (n = 188) weight and height were measured. Each child wore an Omron HJ-720 ITC pedometer for one week to assess step count. Participants were placed into one of two groups (Obese/Overweight or Normal weight) based on BMI. A 2 (Sex) x 2 (BMI Groups) x 2 (Week/Weekend) mixed model ANOVA revealed no interactions among variables. However, there were statistically significant differences for the within-subjects effect, with average step counts for weekdays and weekend days, F = 19.421, p < .001, and statistically significant between-subjects effects for step counts and BMI groups, F = 4.09, p = .044, and Sex, F = 6.80, p = .010. All children engaged in more daily steps during the weekdays than the weekend days. Daily step counts for children in the Obese/Overweight BMI group were lower than children in the Normal BMI group. Boys engaged in more daily steps than girls all days of the week. Interventions to provide weekend physical activity should be promoted based on these findings, particularly for girls and children with high BMIs.