MVPA In Children Research Articles

Day-to-day and seasonal variability of physical activity during school recess

Objective Children's physical activity levels are difficult to establish on a day-to-day or season-to-season basis. Most studies have attempted to measure reliability in habitual settings. This study investigated the variability in children's physical activity during recess. Methods Fifteen boys and 19 girls (aged 6 to 11 years) from 2 schools in North West England wore heart rate monitors for 5 consecutive days in summer and winter terms to assess day-to-day and seasonal variability during school recess. Data were collected in 2004. Repeated measures ANOVA's and intraclass correlations (ICC) analysed the day-to-day and seasonal variability in children's moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) data. Results There were no significant differences in children's MVPA and VPA across days and seasons. ICCs for MVPA across 2 days ranged from 0.75 to 0.85 in summer, and from 0.53 to 0.81 in winter. Three-day MVPA ICCs were 0.83 in summer and 0.71 in winter. Conclusions The results revealed no significant variation in children's recess physical activity levels across days and seasons. Whilst children were free to choose their recess activities in school, the results suggested that children were relatively consistent in their choices, limiting physical activity variability.

Physical Activity of 6-Year-Old Children: Validation of Two Proxy Reports

Heart rate monitoring was used to evaluate the validity and reliability of 2 proxy report measures in assessing moderate to vigorous physical activity (MYPA) in 39 six-year-old children. Significant positive correlations were found between the proxy measures and corresponding heart rate data for school hours and leisure time, respectively (teacher reports, r = .58, p < .001; parent reports, r = .71 to .81, p < .001), but these decreased when each proxy measure was compared with heart rate data collated over a 3-day period (teacher reports, r = .40, p = .01; parent reports, r = .68, p < .001). Repeating the measurements gave a positive test-retest reliability coefficient of r = .84 (p < .001) and r = .64 (p < .001) for teacher and parent reports, respectively. The results indicate that both proxy reports can be useful tools in assessing MVPA in young children but that leisure-time activity reports provide a better basis for extrapolation in assessing weekly MVPA.

EXAMINING THE ROLE OF PARENTAL BELIEFS IN CHILDREN'S MODERATE-TO-VIGOROUS PHYSICAL ACTIVITY 805

It has been suggested that understanding the role of the family, especially parents, in children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity participation is an important undertaking (Sallis et al., 1992). The present study adopted a social cognitive framework in which to examine the relationship between parents' beliefs and children's MVPA. Specifically, the purposes of the present study were to 1) determine if mothers and fathers have different beliefs for their daughters than they do for their sons and 2) to test whether parental beliefs are related to their children's self-reported MVPA participation. The subjects for this study included 81 children (26 girls and 55 boys) between the ages of 11 and 15 years and their parents. Parental beliefs pertaining to value of fitness for their children, perceptions of their children's fitness competence, and goal orientations (i.e., beliefs about fitness testing success) were assessed. Whenever appropriate both parents/guardians for the target child completed questionnaires. Data was collected in each family's home and a version of the Physical Activity Interview (Simons-Morton et al., 1994) was used to assess children's self-reported MVPA as well as two peer comparison measures. Multivariate analyses of variance and multivariate multiple regression analyses were used to examines the two study purposes. Results indicate that mothers' and fathers' beliefs concerning their children's participation and competencies in physical fitness contexts did not differ as a function of the child's gender. However, mothers' and fathers' beliefs were strongly related to their children's MVPA participation. In particular, parents' perceptions of their child's physical fitness competence combined with a mother's endorsement of a mastery goal orientation (focusing on personal fitness improvement) were significantly and positively predictive of children's MVPA. These findings support the notion that parental beliefs about children's physical competencies need to be taken into account to fully understand children's MVPA.