Abstract

AGUILAR-FARIAS, Nicolás; MARTINO-FUENTEALBA, Pía  and  ESPINOZA-SILVA, Miguel. Objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns in Chilean pre-school children. Nutr. Hosp. [online]. 2015, vol.32, n.6, pp.2606-2612. ISSN 1699-5198.  https://dx.doi.org/10.3305/nh.2015.32.6.9489.

Introduction: the negative effects of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour (SB) on children's health have been widely supported by evidence. However, evidence on how these behaviours are manifested in pre-school children is limited. The study aim was to evaluate objectively measured physical activity (PA) and SB patterns in Chilean pre-school children. Methods: twenty-five children (4.8 ± 0.50 years, 48% male) completed ambulatory monitoring with an ActivPAL^TM micro accelerometer and inclinometer. Time spent while walking, standing and sitting/lying, as well as daily steps were measured and compared by day of the week (weekday/weekend) and time of day. Results: mean walking time was 147.2 ± 52.23 minutes/ day. Mean time spent in SB was 468.3 ± 92.22 min/day, with statistical differences between week and weekend days (484.8 minutes/day vs. 426.8 minutes/day, p = 0.03). 50% of total steps were accrued in accumulations of less than 100 steps/minute, while 50% of time spent in SB was accumulated in bouts of 35 seconds or less. Discussion: pre-school children have intermittent PA and SB patterns. On weekdays children spent sitting longer than at weekends, therefore an opportunity exists for changing this behaviour during class time. This report on PA and SB patterns presents valuable information for designing and implementing strategies to enhance PA levels and decrease time spent in SB among pre-school children.

Keywords : Accelerometry; Walking; Ambulatory measurement; Physical activity; Sitting.

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