Abstract
BackgroundIt is unknown if young children’s parent-reported physical activity and sedentary time are correlated with direct measures. The study objectives were to compare parent-reported physical and sedentary activity versus directly measured accelerometer data in early childhood.MethodsFrom 2013 to 2014, 117 healthy children less than 6 years of age were recruited to wear Actical accelerometers for 7 days. Accelerometer data and questionnaires were available on 87 children (74 %). Average daily physical activity was defined as the sum of activity ≥100 counts per minute, and sedentary time as the sum of activity <100 counts per minute during waking hours. Parents reported daily physical activity (unstructured free play in and out of school, and organized activities) and selected sedentary behaviors (screen time, stroller time, time in motor vehicle). Spearman correlation coefficients and Bland–Altman plots were used to assess the validity of parent-reported measures compared to accelerometer data.ResultsTotal physical activity was significantly greater when measured by accelerometer than parent-report; the median difference was 131 min/day (p < 0.001). Parent-reported child physical activity was weak to moderately correlated with directly measured total physical activity (r = 0.39, 95 % CI 0.19, 0.56). The correlations between types of physical activity (unstructured free play in and outside of school/daycare, and organized structured activity) and accelerometer were r = 0.30 (95 % CI 0.09, 0.49); r = 0.42 (95 % CI 0.23, 0.58); r = 0.26 (95 % CI 0.05, 0.46), respectively. There was no correlation between parent-reported and accelerometer-measured total sedentary time in children (r = 0.10, 95 % CI −0.12, 0.33). When the results were stratified by age group (<18, 18–47, and 48–70 months of age) no statistically significant correlations were observed and some inverse associations were observed.ConclusionsThe correlation between parent-report of young children’s physical activity and accelerometer-measured activity was weak to moderate depending on type of activity and age group. Parent-report of children’s sedentary time was not correlated with accelerometer-measured sedentary time. Additional validation studies are needed to determine if parent-reported measures of physical activity and sedentary time are valid among children less than 6 years of age and across these young age groups.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13104-015-1648-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
It is unknown if young children’s parent-reported physical activity and sedentary time are correlated with direct measures
Parents were asked “On a typical weekday, how much time does your child spend outside or in a gymnasium for ‘recess’ or ‘unstructured free play’: (a) during child care/school; (b) during preschool program/daycare; and (c) aside from child care and preschool program/school and daycare?” Parents were asked the following question about structured physical activity: “On a typical weekday how much time does your child spend in organized physical activities?” This question was repeated asking about a typical weekend day
This study provides limited evidence that parentreported child physical activity may be valid for the overall measurement of total physical activity in young children, it may not be valid in all age groups of young children
Summary
It is unknown if young children’s parent-reported physical activity and sedentary time are correlated with direct measures. The study objectives were to compare parent-reported physical and sedentary activity versus directly measured accelerometer data in early childhood. There is data in the United States and Canada demonstrating low rates of physical activity in children over 6 years of age [9, 10], it is unknown if preschool children meet these guidelines. While young children are not recommended to engage in sedentary behaviors (e.g., sitting in a stroller or high chair) for more than an hour at a time [12, 13], recent findings show that only 18 % of children of 3–4 years of age in Canada meet these guidelines [10]. In the United States, children less than 6 years of age spend a daily average of 2 h per day watching television [13]
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