Effect of Temperature on Missing Physical Activity Data of Children and Youth

Abstract

PURPOSE: To examine the effect of temperature on missing physical activity (PA) data of children and youth. METHOD: PA data from the Chinese City Children and Youth Physical Activity Study (N = 2,758; 1,438 boys and 1,320 girls; aged 9–17 years old) were used for the study, in which the participants worn ActiGraph GT3X/GT3X+ accelerometers for 7 consecutive days. Temperature was recorded during the data collection period. The missing ratio (MR = daily missing records/daily total records × 100%) by day was calculated and was correlated with the corresponding daily temperature. RESULTS: Out of a total of 19,306 records, 5,400 (28.0%) were missing, and MR ranged from 2.14 to 49.04%. The mean and SD of the temperature (°C) during the data collection were 24.57 and 6.16, respectively, with a range of from 8°C to 37°C. The lowest five MR were 2.14% at 11°C, 7.86% at 8°C, 11.18% at 16°C, 15.11% at 18°C, and 15.31% at 19°C, respectively, and the highest five MR were 49.04% at 26°C, 43.09% at 30°C, 36.60% at 24°C, 34.30% at 23°C, and 33.33% at 10°C, respectively. No correlation (r=0.096) was found between temperature and MR. CONCLUSION: Temperature was not found to have an impact on the missing PA dada of children and youth. *Supported by National Social Science Fund (Grant No. 13BTY044), Ministry of Education of China (Grant No. 2009BAK62B01)Table: No title available.