scholarly journals Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time among Children and Adolescents in Morocco: A Cross-Sectional Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issad Baddou ◽  
Asmaa El Hamdouchi ◽  
Imane El Harchaoui ◽  
Kaoutar Benjeddou ◽  
Naima Saeid ◽  
...  

Background. Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescent plays an important role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular health diseases, diabetes, and obesity in adulthood. However, little is known about physical activity levels (PA) and sedentary time among children and adolescents in Morocco. Objective. To examine gender, type of day, and age grade differences in objectively measured sedentary time, physical activity levels, and physical activity guideline attainment among children and adolescents in Morocco. Method. 172 children/adolescents (mean age = 10.92 ± 1.55 years, 49.4% are boys) were recruited for this study and wore a tri-axial accelerometer (GT3X+) for 7 consecutive days. Time spent in sedentary, PA levels, and daily steps were measured and compared according to gender, age grade, and the type of day (weekdays/weekends). Results. In weekdays children/adolescents spent more time in sedentary than weekends (p < 0.001). Boys were eight times more likely to meet the recommendation for at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day than girls (OR: 8.569; 95% [CI]: 4.23–17.32), p < 0.001. Conclusion. These findings highlight the need for effective and sustainable strategies and programs aiming to promote physical activity and to reduce sedentary behavior among children and adolescents in Morocco.

2016 ◽  
Vol 41 (9) ◽  
pp. 971-976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Tucker ◽  
Alana M. Maltby ◽  
Shauna M. Burke ◽  
Leigh M. Vanderloo ◽  
Jennifer D. Irwin

Establishing appropriate physical activity and sedentary behaviours during early childhood is important to ensure children accrue the many associated health benefits. While physical activity levels have been reported as low within early learning programs, little research has explored the physical activity and sedentary time of Canadian preschoolers classified as overweight within these facilities. The purpose of this study was to compare objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time among preschoolers classified as overweight and nonoverweight in early learning programs. Direct assessment of physical activity and sedentary time of 216 preschool-aged children was collected via Actical accelerometers during early learning hours, while body mass index percentile was calculated based on preschoolers’ objectively measured height and weight. Results of three 3-way ANOVAs suggest that rates of moderate to vigorous physical activity, total physical activity, and sedentary time (p > 0.05) did not significantly differ based on weight status, sex, and type of early learning facility. This study is one of few that has examined differences in overweight and nonoverweight preschoolers’ sedentary time, and adds to the limited research exploring physical activity levels among overweight and nonoverweight preschoolers during early learning hours. Given the high rates of sedentary time reported, programming within early learning facilities is necessary to support preschoolers, regardless of weight status, to achieve increased physical activity levels and decreased sedentary time.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. e0208916 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hugo Nivaldo Melo ◽  
Simone Joanna-Maria Stoots ◽  
Marijn Aimee Pool ◽  
Vitor Oliveira Carvalho ◽  
Max Luan De Carvalho Aragão ◽  
...  

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Xu ◽  
Minghui Quan ◽  
Hanbin Zhang ◽  
Chenglin Zhou ◽  
PeiJie Chen

Purpose This study examined the associations of physical activity levels between parents and their pre-school children based on gender and weekday/weekend. Method A total of 247 parent-preschool child triads from Shanghai, China were analyzed. The children had a mean age of 57.5 ± 5.2 months. Both sedentary behavior and physical activity were measured in all participants using an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer over seven consecutive days from Monday through the following Sunday. A multivariate regression model was derived to identify significant relationships between parental and child physical activity according to gender and weekday/weekend. Results There was a significant correlation between mothers’ and girls’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and total physical activity (TPA) on weekdays. Fathers’ MPVA levels correlated significantly with those of boys and girls, with paternal influence appearing to be stronger than maternal influence. However, there was not a significant correlation between fathers’ and children’s TPA. TPA levels of both mothers and fathers correlated with those of girls, but not with those of boys. Parental sedentary levels on the weekend correlated significantly with girls’ levels, but not with boys’ levels. Children’s physical activity levels on weekends were influenced more by fathers’ activity levels than by mothers’, while the opposite was observed on weekdays. Conclusion Sedentary behavior and physical activity levels of parents can strongly influence those of their preschool children, with maternal influence stronger during the weekdays and paternal influence stronger on the weekends. Parents’ activity levels influence girls’ levels more strongly than they influence boys’ levels.


Author(s):  
Brianne A. Bruijns ◽  
Leigh M. Vanderloo ◽  
Brian W. Timmons ◽  
Patricia Tucker

Background: Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) offers many health benefits for preschoolers (2.5–5 y). In childcare, MVPA is predominantly accumulated outdoors, with higher rates purported among children within the first few minutes outside. The Supporting Physical Activity in the Childcare Environment intervention included shorter, more frequent outdoor play sessions; this study sought to explore children’s activity levels during various outdoor play schedules. Methods: During the final week of the Supporting Physical Activity in the Childcare Environment intervention, preschoolers wore an Actical™ accelerometer for 5 days during childcare and staff logged outdoor times. Separate linear mixed effects models were run to explore the effect of the intervention on preschoolers’ physical activity (total and MVPA) and sedentary time during outdoor play. Sex was entered as an interaction effect. Results: Preschoolers (n = 292) were significantly more active in the first 10 minutes outdoors compared with remaining time (P < .0083). For total outdoor time, children in the experimental group engaged in significantly less sedentary time than those in the control group (P < .017), and experimental group boys and girls engaged in higher MVPA than boys and girls in the control group (P < .017). Conclusions: Findings support scheduling more frequent outdoor play sessions in childcare to increase physical activity participation among young children.


2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (8) ◽  
pp. 988-999
Author(s):  
Pablo Tercedor ◽  
Víctor Segura-Jiménez ◽  
Manuel Ávila García ◽  
Francisco Javier Huertas-Delgado

Objective:The goals of this study were to (1) describe physical activity levels during school recess in 8-year-old children, (2) analyse the percentage of children who achieved physical activity recommendation at recess, and (3) examine if recess physical activity levels varied by gender, weight status, and parental educational level.Methods:In all, 291 children (mean age ±  SD = 8.3 ± 0.3 years, 156 boys) from 7 schools of Granada (Spain) were recruited by convenience. To analyse sedentary time and physical activity levels during recess, children wore a tri-axial accelerometer attached to the wrist over five consecutive school days.Results:Sedentary time (29.6% vs 40%) and light physical activity (33.2% vs 35.5%) were lower in boys than in girls (all p < .001). Conversely, moderate physical activity (26.7% vs 20%), vigorous physical activity (10.5% vs 4.4%) and moderate-vigorous physical activity (37.2% vs 24.4%) were higher in boys than in girls (all p < .001). Only 12% of the children accomplished the moderate-vigorous physical activity recommendations during recess (21.2% boys vs 1.5% girls). Lower body mass index values were associated with higher vigorous physical activity intensity.Conclusions:Levels of moderate-vigorous physical activity during school recess are very low in children, being lower in girls than in boys, a very low percentage of children achieve moderate-vigorous physical activity recommendations during school recess, and girls and overweight/obese children show lower values in moderate-vigorous and vigorous physical activity.


2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-37
Author(s):  
Laura Baena-García ◽  
Pedro Acosta-Manzano ◽  
Olga Ocón-Hernández ◽  
Milkana Borges-Cosic ◽  
Lidia Romero-Gallardo ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aileen P. McGinn ◽  
Kelly R. Evenson ◽  
Amy H. Herring ◽  
Sara L. Huston ◽  
Daniel A. Rodriguez

Background:Crime is one aspect of the environment that can act as a barrier to physical activity. The goals of this study were to (1) compare measures of perceived crime with observed crime and (2) examine the association between the independent and combined effects of objective and perceived crime on physical activity.Methods:Perceived crime and physical activity were assessed in 1659 persons via telephone survey. Crime was objectively measured in a subset of 303 survey participants.Results:For all types of crime, there was low agreement between objective and perceived measures. Both perceived and objectively measured crime were independently associated with leisure activities.Conclusions:This study suggests that perceptions and objective measures of crime are both important correlates of leisure physical activity. Evaluating both measures is necessary when examining the relationship between crime and physical activity to develop interventions that will most influence leisure physical activity levels.


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