The purpose of this study was to examine whether the association between daily light-intensity physical activity (LPA) and total body fat mass changes during childhood. The study sample was 577 children participating in the longitudinal Iowa Bone Development Study. Body fat mass and physical activity (PA) were measured using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and accelerometers, respectively, at approximately 5, 8, and 11 years of age. Age- and gender-specific multivariable linear regression models were fit to predict fat mass by LPA, adjusted for actual age, birth weight, fat-free mass, height, moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA, and physical maturity (only for girls). Among boys, LPA was negatively associated with fat mass at age 11, but not age 5 or 8. Among girls, LPA was negatively associated with fat mass at ages 8 and 11, but not at age 5. LPA may have a beneficial effect against excess adiposity among older children.
Search Results
Association Between Light-Intensity Physical Activity and Adiposity in Childhood
Soyang Kwon, Kathleen F. Janz, Trudy L. Burns, and Steven M. Levy
Childhood Adversities and Socioeconomic Position as Predictors of Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity in Early Adulthood
Laura Kestilä, Tomi Mäki-Opas, Anton E Kunst, Katja Borodulin, Ossi Rahkonen, and Ritva Prättälä
Background:
Limited knowledge exists on how childhood social, health-related and economic circumstances predict adult physical inactivity. Our aim was a) to examine how various childhood adversities and living conditions predict leisure-time physical inactivity in early adulthood and b) to find out whether these associations are mediated through the respondent’s own education.
Methods:
Young adults aged 18−29 were used from the Health 2000 Study of the Finnish. The cross-sectional data were based on interviews and questionnaires including retrospective information on childhood circumstances. The analyses were carried out on 68% of the original sample (N = 1894). The outcome measure was leisure-time physical inactivity.
Results:
Only a few of the 11 childhood adversities were related with physical activity in early adulthood. Having been bullied at school was associated with physical inactivity independently of the other childhood circumstances and the respondent’s own education. Low parental education predicted leisure-time physical inactivity in men and the association was mediated by the respondent´s own education. Respondents with only primary or vocational education were more likely to be physically inactive during leisure-time compared with those with secondary or higher education.
Conclusions:
There is some evidence that few specific childhood adversities, especially bullying at school, have long-lasting effects on physical activity levels.
Tracking of Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity in Early Childhood
Nicholas M. Edwards, Philip R. Khoury, Heidi J. Kalkwarf, Jessica G. Woo, Randal P. Claytor, and Stephen R. Daniels
Establishing and maintaining healthy physical activity (PA) levels is important throughout life. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of PA tracking between ages 3 and 7 y. Objective measures of PA (RT3, triaxial accelerometer) were collected every 4 mo from ages 3–7; data from 234 children with PA measures available during each year of age were analyzed. Mean PA (total, moderate/vigorous (MV), and inactivity [IA]) was calculated for each year of age and adjusted for wear time. Correlations with age 3 PA were moderate at age 4 (r = .42−.45) but declined by age 7 (r = .19−.25). After classification into sex-specific tertiles of PA at age 3, boys in the high age 3 MVPA tertile maintained significantly higher PA at all subsequent ages, while girls in the high age 3 MVPA tertile were not significantly higher at age 6 and 7. Boys and girls in the high age 3 IA tertile had significantly higher IA at multiple subsequent years of age (p < .05 at ages 5 and 6). In conclusion, boys who were relatively more active at age 3 remained more active for several subsequent years. These findings highlight early-childhood differences in physical activity patterns between boys and girls.
Children's Organized Physical Activity Patterns From Childhood into Adolescence
Leanne C. Findlay, Rochelle E. Garner, and Dafna E. Kohen
Background:
Few longitudinal studies of physical activity have included young children or used nationally representative datasets. The purpose of the current study was to explore patterns of organized physical activity for Canadian children aged 4 through 17 years.
Methods:
Data from 5 cycles of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth were analyzed separately for boys (n = 4463) and girls (n = 4354) using multiple trajectory modeling.
Results:
Boys' and girls' organized physical activity was best represented by 3 trajectory groups. For boys, these groups were labeled: high stable, high decreasing, and low decreasing participation. For girls, these groups were labeled: high decreasing, moderate stable, and low decreasing participation. Risk factors (parental education, household income, urban/rural dwelling, and single/dual parent) were explored. For boys and girls, having a parent with postsecondary education and living in a higher income household were associated with a greater likelihood of weekly participation in organized physical activity. Living in an urban area was also significantly associated with a greater likelihood of weekly participation for girls.
Conclusions:
Results suggest that Canadian children's organized physical activity is best represented by multiple patterns of participation that tend to peak in middle childhood and decline into adolescence.
Where is Childhood? In Conversation With Messner and Musto
Jason Laurendeau and Dan Konecny
In this essay, we build upon Messner and Musto’s recent call for sociologists of sport to take “kids” more seriously; we highlight that in addition to taking kids and kids’ sport more seriously, sport scholars might go further toward considering childhood not simply as a stage of life, but as a set of ideas that shape and are shaped by sporting and recreational practices and discourses. To illustrate the value of this approach, we explore a number of complexities and contradictions of contemporary risk discourses, and the ways in which these are connected to the (re)production of young people as vulnerable subjects.
Dans cet essai, nous nous appuyons sur Messner et Musto qui ont récemment encouragé les sociologues du sport à prendre les enfants plus au sérieux; nous soulignons qu’en plus de prendre les enfants et les activités sportives des enfants au sérieux, les chercheurs en sport peuvent aller plus loin et considérer l’enfance non seulement comme une étape de la vie, mais aussi comme un ensemble d’idées qui forment les pratiques et discours sportifs et récréatifs et sont formées par ceux-ci. Pour illustrer le bien-fondé de cette approche, nous explorons un certain nombre de complexités et contradictions qui existent dans les discours actuels sur le risque, et les façons dont ils sont connectés à la (re)production des jeunes comme sujets vulnérables.
Is Fitness Level in Childhood Associated with Physical Activity Level as an Adult?
François Trudeau, Louis Laurencelle, and Roy J. Shephard
The purpose of this study was to examine the possible influence of childhood physical fitness on physical activity level and some of its psychosocial determinants as an adult. Childhood (age 10–12 years) data from the longitudinal Trois-Rivières Growth and Development Study (body mass index, Physical Work Capacity (PWC170)), number of sit-ups/min, left + right hands grip strength) were correlated with adult data (age 35.0 ± 0.3 years) for physical activity (PA) level, attitude toward PA, intention to exercise, perceived barriers to exercise and support of an active lifestyle by significant others. No significant relationships between childhood physical fitness and adulthood PA were found. Although the sample size is relatively small, our data suggest that the preadolescent physical fitness level has no measurable impact on adult habitual PA, attitudes toward PA, intentions to exercise, perceived barriers to exercise or support from the individual’s entourage.
Sports Attitudes in Childhood and Income in Adulthood
Adam Vanzella-Yang, Pascale Domond, Frank Vitaro, Richard E. Tremblay, Vincent Bégin, and Sylvana Côté
al., 2016 ), previous research has also relied on single indicators of sports participation, which may fail to capture important variations in youth’s experiences with sports. In this paper, we investigate the link between sports attitudes in childhood and income in adulthood using data from a population
A Review of Childhood Physical Activity, Brain, and Cognition: Perspectives on the Future
Charles H. Hillman and John R. Biggan
This manuscript, which arose from the inaugural Tom Rowland Lecture Series at the 2016 North American Society for Pediatric Exercise Medicine conference, provides a brief descriptive review of what is known (i.e., the state of the science) regarding the relation of childhood physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) to brain health, cognition, and academic outcomes. Gaps in the knowledgebase are identified, including characteristics of the PA stimulus that promotes changes in brain and cognition, whether critical periods in development exist in which PA/CRF may have a disproportionately large influence, the understanding of individual difference factors, and the influence upon learning. Lastly, several possible directions for future research are proposed. Although the field of childhood PA, CRF, brain, and cognition is rapidly expanding, there is considerable room for future growth. This manuscript may be helpful in shaping that future growth, with the goal of improving lifelong health and effective functioning.
Group Physical Activity Intervention for Childhood Cancer Survivors: A Pilot Study
Kathy Ruble, Susan Scarvalone, Lisa Gallicchio, Catherine Davis, and Diane Wells
Background:
: Inadequate physical activity (PA) in childhood cancer survivors may lead to compromised health outcomes. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the feasibility and effect of a PA intervention in childhood cancer survivors ages 8–12 who report < 1 hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical (MVPA) per day.
Methods:
Twenty survivors were randomized to a 6-month group PA intervention or to a control group. A pre/post measure of MVPA was completed by all participants, and a pre/post measure of self-efficacy was completed by the intervention group. Analysis included measures of feasibility, change in percentage of awake time spent in MVPA, self-efficacy scores, and correlations in MVPA and self-efficacy.
Results:
All feasibility parameters were confirmed. Increases in percent of awake time spent in MVPA were seen in 67% of the intervention group and 14% of the control group. A medium effect size (r = 0.55) was calculated for the correlation between change in MVPA and change in total self-efficacy scores; the largest effect size (r = 0.62) was found for the subscale for adequacy.
Conclusions:
Increases in MVPA can be seen in childhood cancer survivors who participate in a group intervention that includes support of self-efficacy.
Tracking Adiposity and Health-Related Physical Fitness Test Performances From Early Childhood Through Elementary School
Cathy S. McMillan and Loran D. Erdmann
This study tracked health-related physical fitness measurements in children, including sum of triceps and medial calf skinfolds, timed 1-mile run/walk, 1-min bent-knee sit-up, pull-up, and sit-and-reach values. Results are from 409 boys and 409 girls tested in kindergarten and fifth grade, also retaining their first, second, third, and fourth grade data. In separate gender analyses, Spearman’s rho correlations were significant (p < .001) for all grade level pair combinations for each variable. Five-yr tracking of adiposity and all health-related physical fitness measurements for boys and girls was generally moderate from early childhood to the upper elementary ages.
