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Patterns of Objectively Measured Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in Preschool Children.

O'Dwyer, MV, Fairclough, SJ, Ridgers, ND, Knowles, ZR, Foweather, L and Stratton, G (2014) Patterns of Objectively Measured Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in Preschool Children. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 11 (6). pp. 1233-1238. ISSN 1543-5474

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Identifying periods of the day which are susceptible to varying levels of physical activity (PA) may help identify key times to intervene and potentially change preschool children's PA behaviors. This study assessed variability of objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during weekdays and weekend days among preschool children. METHODS: One hundred and eighty-eight children (aged 3 to 5 years; 53.2% boys) from a northwest English city wore uni-axial accelerometers for 7 consecutive days. RESULTS: Higher levels of MVPA were recorded in boys, particularly those who attended preschool for a half day. Children who attended preschool for a full day engaged in 11.1 minutes less MVPA than children who attended for a half day. After-school hours were characterized by a decrease in activity for all groups. Patterns of activity during the weekend were smoother with less variability. CONCLUSION: This study identified discrete segments of the week, specifically afterschool and during the weekend, when preschoolers engage in low levels of PA. Higher levels of MVPA among children who attended preschool for less time each day suggests that the structured preschool environment is related to decreased activity. Consequently, there is a need for interventions in young children to focus on school and home environments.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: This is the accepted version of an article which was published in: Journal of Physical Activity and Health, on: 06.08.2014. The publisher version of this article can be found at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2012-0163
Uncontrolled Keywords: 1106 Human Movement And Sports Science, 1302 Curriculum And Pedagogy
Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC1200 Sports Medicine
Divisions: Sport & Exercise Sciences
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Related URLs:
Date Deposited: 06 May 2015 14:12
Last Modified: 04 Sep 2021 14:26
DOI or ID number: 10.1123/jpah.2012-0163
URI: https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/1001
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