Search Results

This study compared the accuracy of heart rate monitoring, pedometry, and uniaxial and triaxial aecelerometry for estimating oxygen consumption during a range of activities in Hong Kong Chinese boys. Twenty-one boys, aged 8–10 years, walked and ran on a treadmill, played catch, played hopscotch, and sat and crayoned. Heart rate, uniaxial and triaxial accelerometry counts, pedometry counts, and scaled oxygen uptake (SVO₂) were measured. All measures correlated significantly with VO₂ scaled to body mass^−0.75 (SVO₂). The best predictor of SVO₂ was triaxial accelerometry (R² = 0.89). Correlations in this study were comparable with those in a previous study that used identical methods on 30 UK boys and girls. These results provide further confirmation that triaxial accelerometry provides the best assessment of energy expenditure and that pedometry offers potential for large population studies.

Background: Inclement weather and home environment can act as barriers to physical activity. However, it is unclear if they reduce the activity of persons participating in activity-promoting programs. Methods: Data from a 6-month workplace financial incentives program were used to establish the association between meteorologic (temperature, rain, snow, and wind) and geographic factors (urban/nonurban home location and distance between home and work) and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Multivariable models were built to estimate mean weekly minutes of MVPA adjusting for demographic factors, clinical factors, and impulsivity. Results: The 292 participants had a mean age of 38 (SD = 11) years. Eighty-three percent were female and 62% were white. Twenty-nine percent lived within 3 miles of work, and 35% lived in urban areas. Participants who lived more than 3 miles from work averaged 75 [95% confidence interval (CI), 65–84] minutes of weekly MVPA compared with 105 (95% CI, 88–122) minutes for those who lived within 3 miles of work. Urban participants averaged 70 (95% CI, 57–83) minutes of MVPA compared with 91 (95% CI, 80–102) minutes for nonurban participants. Colder temperatures were associated with decreased MVPA, and impulsivity modified the effect. Conclusions: Colder temperatures, greater distance from work, and an urban residence are associated with fewer minutes of MVPA.

Background: The aims of this study were to explore the effect of time and long-termed tracking on pedometer-determined physical activity (PA) from early adolescent to the 30s. Methods: PA was measured with pedometers [Yamax™ (SW-200)] during 2000 (time 1), 2003 (time 2), 2005 (time 3), 2010 (time 4), and 2016 (time 5). Anthropometric data were collected during time 1. Data from 59 participants (n = 32 males) were analyzed from early adolescent (time 1) to the 30s (time 5). Results: There was an effect of time for males (P = .005, η² = .76) and females (P = .002, η² = .50) where steps per day decreased. Males steps per day tracked between time 1 and time 2 (r = .41, P = .021), time 1 and time 3 (r = .38, P = .03), time 3 and time 4 (r = .42, P = .015), and time 4 and time 5 (r = .50, P = .003). Females steps per day tracked between time 4 and time 5 (r = .39, P = .04). Males took more steps per day than females during time 1 (P = .018), whereas females took more steps per day during time 2 (P = .043) and time 3 (P = .03). Conclusion: There was a significant effect of time, where steps per day decreased between the 5 times of measurement. Steps per day tracked low to moderate in the short time span, yet tracked nonsignificantly from early adolescent to the 30s.