Patterns of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in preschool children.

Eveline Van Cauwenberghe,Rachel A Jones,Anthony D Okely,Trina Hinkley,David Crawford

doi:10.1186/1479-5868-9-138

Abstract

BackgroundLittle is known about patterns of sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity among preschoolers. Therefore, in this observational study patterns of SB and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were examined in detail throughout the week in preschool-aged boys and girls.MethodsA sample of 703 Melbourne preschool children (387 boys; 4.6 ± 0.7 y) were included in data analysis. SB and MVPA data were collected using accelerometry over an eight-day period. Percentage of time per hour in SB and in MVPA between 08:00 h and 20:00 h was calculated. Multi-level logistic regression models were created to examine the hour-by-hour variability in SB and MVPA for boys and girls across weekdays and weekend days. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated to interpret differences in hour-by-hour SB and MVPA levels between boys and girls, and between weekdays and weekend days.ResultsThe highest SB levels co-occurred with the lowest MVPA levels from the morning till the early afternoon on weekdays, and during the morning and around midday on weekends. Besides, participation in SB was the lowest and participation in MVPA was the highest from the mid afternoon till the evening on weekdays and weekend days. The variability across the hours in SB and, especially, in MVPA was rather small throughout weekdays and weekends. These patterns were found in both boys and girls. During some hours, girls were found to be more likely than boys to demonstrate higher SB levels (OR from 1.08 to 1.16; all p < 0.05) and lower MVPA levels (OR from 0.75 to 0.88; all p < 0.05), but differences were small. During weekends, hour-by-hour SB levels were more likely to be lower (OR from 0.74 to 0.98; all p < 0.05) and hour-by-hour MVPA levels were more likely to be higher (OR from 1.15 to 1.50; all p < 0.05), than during weekdays, in boys and girls.ConclusionEntire weekdays, especially from the morning till the early afternoon, and entire weekend days are opportunities to reduce SB and to promote MVPA in preschool-aged boys and girls. Particularly weekdays hold the greatest promise for improving SB and MVPA. No particular time of the week was found where one sex should be targeted.

Highlights

Little is known about patterns of sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity among preschoolers
Despite the ability of accelerometers to investigate in detail physical activity (PA) throughout the day, only four studies have reported on PA variability in preschoolers across different segments of the day, for example in-preschool versus out-of-preschool [14,16,18,21], and only one study in preschoolers has reported on PA patterns hour-by-hour [20]
Hour-by-hour patterning of activity engagement throughout a day is important because it can provide information on when preschool children are engaging in more or less PA and SB, potentially highlighting critical windows to intervene. In most of these previous studies, PA was reported as total PA or time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)

Summary

Introduction

Little is known about patterns of sedentary behavior (SB) and physical activity among preschoolers. In this observational study patterns of SB and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were examined in detail throughout the week in preschool-aged boys and girls. Accelerometer-based studies that provide detailed knowledge of the days of the week and specific periods within a day in which low engagement in PA and high participation in SB are typical for preschool children may facilitate the identification of intervention opportunities and may increase our understanding of PA and SB in preschoolers. Differences in behavior between boys and girls were mostly examined, none stratified by activity level or weight status, potentially missing key times for subgroups of children

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Discussion

Conclusion