How many steps are our children taking each day?

Abstract

The increasing prevalence and severity of obesity in children and adolescents has focused our attention on the components of energy balance, diet, and physical activity. With this in mind, it is interesting that there are so few normative data on activity in these age groups. In this issue of The Journal, Barreira et al report on an analysis of NHANES data to evaluate activity levels. In NHANES, accelerometers were used to measure activity levels. Barreira et al used those measures to determine steps per day and, thus, develop sex- and age-specific normative values for the number of steps. Although these values reflect the current situation and should not necessarily be interpreted as healthful levels of activity, they do provide useful information to clinicians and researchers from which comparisons can be made.Article page 139▶ The increasing prevalence and severity of obesity in children and adolescents has focused our attention on the components of energy balance, diet, and physical activity. With this in mind, it is interesting that there are so few normative data on activity in these age groups. In this issue of The Journal, Barreira et al report on an analysis of NHANES data to evaluate activity levels. In NHANES, accelerometers were used to measure activity levels. Barreira et al used those measures to determine steps per day and, thus, develop sex- and age-specific normative values for the number of steps. Although these values reflect the current situation and should not necessarily be interpreted as healthful levels of activity, they do provide useful information to clinicians and researchers from which comparisons can be made. Article page 139▶ Normative Steps/Day and Peak Cadence Values for United States Children and Adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005-2006The Journal of PediatricsVol. 166Issue 1PreviewTo provide sex-and-age specific normative values for children and adolescents' accelerometer-determined steps/day, and peak 60-minute cadence adjusted to a pedometer-based scale. Full-Text PDF