Tracking Of Physical Activity Patterns From Late Childhood To Young Adulthood

Abstract

Physical activity is a critical component of a healthy lifestyle throughout the lifespan and has been shown to be positively related to a variety of health outcomes. Despite these benefits and the speculation that activity levels during childhood tracks into adulthood, little is known about tracking of physical activity patterns due to the paucity of prospective data linking childhood and adult physical activity. PURPOSE: To investigate trends and tracking of physical activity from late childhood into young adulthood. METHODS: Between 1991 and 1993, 253 subjects (chronologically aged (CA) 8 to 15 years) were recruited into a mixed-longitudinal study examining the role of physical activity (PA) on body composition development during childhood and adolescence. In 2007, 169 participants remained in the study (CA 23 to 30 years). Biological age (BA) was calculated as years from peak height velocity. PA was assessed using the PAQ C/A/AD questionnaires. For this analysis subjects' required measurements in childhood and adulthood. PA was correlated at three, six, nine, and 12 year intervals. Paired-samples t-tests were used to find differences in PA levels between time points. RESULTS: Physical activity was found to decrease (p<0.05) after 10 years of age reaching a plateau between 15 and 17 years (p>0.05). When aligned by BA PA peaked prior to PHV and declined thereafter (p<0.05), before reaching a plateau at a BA of +4 years. Males were more active than females between the ages of 10 and 16 years (p<0.05); however, no PA differences between genders were found at any BA (p>0.05). Interage CA correlations ranged from r = 0.31-0.69, 0.17-0.67,-0.04-0.5 and -0.21-0.4 at three, six-, nine- and 12-year intervals, respectively. Correlations of BA intervals ranged from r = 0.05-0.81 (p<0.05) over the same interval lengths. CONCLUSION: PA decreases with increasing CA and BA age, plateauing at 16 and 18 years (4 years after PHV) respectively for males and females. Tracking of PA was low to moderate and decreased in sensitivity with increasing interval time. These results suggest that high childhood PA does not predict high adult PA. Maintenance of PA throughout childhood, adolescence and young adulthood may be most beneficial for adult PA levels and positive health outcomes.