Abstract
Background: Self-reports are commonly used to assess physical activity in children. Existing self-reports for physical activity have not been validated for primary school children in Tanzania. To understand if primary school children can accurately report their physical activity, we examined the validity of self-reported physical activity against accelerometer measured physical activity. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May to July 2018. We conveniently selected four primary schools in Moshi municipal and Moshi rural districts in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. From these districts, 51 children aged 9 - 11 years were randomly selected. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect physical activity-related variables. Children wore accelerometers for seven consecutive days to capture physical activity movements. Spearman's rank test and Bland Altman plots were used for assessing validity and agreement between self-reports and accelerometer moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Results: The study participants' mean age was 10 (SD=0.8) years, and 32 (63%) were girls. A significant positive correlation was found between self-reports and accelerometer MVPA (rho=0.36, p=0.009). The mean total of weekday minutes in MVPA from accelerometers was higher than from self-reports, 408 (SD = 66) versus 261 (SD = 179). Conclusions: This study found a significant positive correlation between self-reports and accelerometers. Self-reports are prone to errors due to recall bias, which interferes with their validity. More research is needed to develop better self-reported measures with specific activities that children can easily remember. Also, researchers should carefully consider the inherent limitations in the validity of self-reports.
Highlights
Physical activity in children is the key to better health
Self-reports are prone to errors due to significant day-to-day variations and inaccurate estimation of physical activity levels[9,10]
Accelerometers are more valid than self-reports in estimating physical activity[8,9]
Summary
Physical activity in children is the key to better health. Active children gain health benefits, including cardiorespiratory, muscular fitness and bone health. Studies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) reported low physical activity levels and high sedentary behaviours in children[5,6]. In Tanzania, 82.1% of school-going children are not meeting the recommended physical activity levels, according to self-reports[7]. Self-reports are commonly used to assess physical activity in children. Existing self-reports for physical activity have not been validated for primary school children in Tanzania. We conveniently selected four primary schools in Moshi municipal and Moshi rural districts in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania From these districts, 51 children aged 9 – 11 years were randomly selected. Spearman’s rank test and Bland Altman plots were used for assessing validity and agreement between self-reports and accelerometer moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). A significant positive correlation was found between self-reports and accelerometer MVPA (rho=0.36, p=0.009)
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