Total physical activity, activity intensity and body fat in 8 to 11 year old boys and girls (original) (raw)
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TOTAL PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, ACTIVITY INTENSITY AND BODY FAT IN 8-11YEAROLD BOYS AND GIRLS
The relative importance of total habitual activity and time spent at varying intensities of activity to body fatness is unclear. This study examined the relationship between total activity, minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and vigorous activity with percent body fat in 38 boys (mean age, 9.1 ± 0.7 years) and 38 girls (mean age, 9.0 ± 1.0 years). Percent body fat was estimated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. An RT3 accelerometer was worn for 5.2 ± 0.9 days to assess physical activity. Correlations between activity and percent body fat were significant for total activity (boys: r = -0.42, p = 0.009; girls: r = -0.43, p = 0.008) and ≥vigorous activity (boys: r = -0.46, p = 0.003; girls: r = -0.50, p = 0.002). However, there were no relationships between MVPA and percent body fat. Boys in the lowest sex-specific tertile for vigorous activity (≤ 27 minutes) had higher fat than boys in the higher two tertiles (≥ 27 minutes vigorous activity). Girls in the top sex-specific tertile for MVPA (≥ 127 minutes) had lower fat than girls in the lower tertile (≤ 104.5 minutes). In conclusion, total physical activity and time spent in vigorous activity were more strongly related to body fatness than MVPA in 8-11-year-old boys and girls.
Body fatness and physical activity levels of young children
Annals of Human Biology, 2007
Background: The decline in physical activity levels of young children seems to be combined with a high prevalence of obesity and overweight and a reduction in the participation in organized sport. With the ever-increasing interest in exploring the relationship between physical activity and obesity amongst children, it is important to provide a more precise estimate of both physical activity and body fatness. A significant proportion of previous research on this topic has relied on self-report methods to assess physical activity and body mass index as a proxy for actual body fatness. There is a need to investigate the relationships between physical activity and fatness in children using objective methods. Aim: This study was conducted in order to explore the relationship between physical activity patterns and percentage body fat amongst a group of primary school children. Subjects and methods: Forty-seven primary school children (boys, n ¼ 23; girls, n ¼ 24) participated in this study. They were randomly selected from children in years 5 and 6 (9-11 year olds) of four schools drawn from the same catchment area in the city of Birmingham, UK. The frequency, intensity and duration of physical activity were determined using continuous heart rate monitoring from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm over three separate days (two weekdays and one weekend day). Percentage body fat was assessed using air displacement plethysmography. Results: Results indicated that 52% of children did not achieve a single 15-min bout of sustained moderate physical activity over the three days of monitoring. Independent t-tests revealed that girls were significantly fatter (t 44 ¼ À3.126, p ¼ 0.003) than boys. There was no significant difference (t 45 ¼ 0.225, p > 0.05) between boys and girls in accumulated time spent with heart rates above the moderate physical activity threshold. Pearson's product moment correlation coefficients revealed no significant (r ¼ À0.017, p > 0.05) relationship between per cent body fat and average daily time spent in moderate and vigorous activity. Conclusion: Despite the prediction to the contrary, there was no evidence of a significant relationship between percentage body fat of children and time spent in moderate and vigorous activity. Additionally, while there were no significant gender differences in physical activity patterns, children were more physically active during weekdays than weekends.
The effect of physical activity on body fatness in children and adolescents
The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 2006
With the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity, there is an urgent need to identify risk factors that are amenable to preventative action. However, there is a remarkable lack of consistency between studies that have investigated the relationships between measurements of physical activity and energy expenditure and body fatness in children. This disparity could be because energy intake is a more important determinant in preventing obesity. Alternatively, some of the conflicting results could be related to methodological limitations in assessing activity and body composition. Erroneous conclusions may be drawn if physical activity energy expenditure is not adjusted for differences in body composition, or body fat is not appropriately adjusted for body size. For public health purposes it may be more informative to evaluate the amount and intensity of physical activity required to prevent fat-mass gain than to assess energy expended in physical activity. The lack of consensus in th...
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2004
Background: Concerns of a decrease in physical activity levels (PALs) of children and a concurrent increase in childhood obesity exist worldwide. The exact relation between these two parameters however has as yet to be fully defined in children. Objective: This study examined the relation in 47 children, aged 5-10.5 y (mean age 8.470.9 y) between habitual physical activity, minutes spent in moderate, vigorous and hard intensity activity and body composition parameters. Design: Total energy expenditure (TEE) was calculated using the doubly labelled water technique and basal metabolic rate (BMR) was predicted from Schofield's equations. PAL was determined by PAL ¼ TEE/BMR. Time spent in moderate, vigorous and hard intensity activity was determined by accelerometry, using the Tritrac-R3D. Body fatness and body mass index (BMI) were used as the two measures of body composition. Results: Body fat and BMI were significantly inversely correlated with PAL (r ¼ À0.43, P ¼ 0.002 and r ¼ À0.45, P ¼ 0.001). Times spent in vigorous activity and hard activity were significantly correlated to percentage body fat (r ¼ À0.44, P ¼ 0.004 and r ¼ À0.39, P ¼ 0.014), but not BMI. Children who were in the top tertiles for both vigorous activity and hard activity had significantly lower body fat percentages than those in the middle and lowest tertiles. Moderate intensity activity was not correlated with measures of body composition. Conclusions: As well as showing a significant relation between PAL and body composition, these data intimate that there may be a threshold of intensity of physical activity that is influential on body fatness. In light of world trends showing increasing childhood obesity, this study supports the need to further investigate the importance of physical activity for children.
Anthropological Review, 2000
The study is aimed at evaluation of the effect of regular physical activity on total and subcutaneous body fat and its distribution in boys aged 10 to 16 years. A three-year longitudinal study was carried out in order to monitor physical development in 237 boys from sports schools and regular schools in Warsaw, Poland. The boys were selected so that their rate of puberty changes was similar based on evaluation of voice and facial hair. The authors measured 5 skinfolds in the following sites: triceps, calf, subscapular, suprailiac, and abdominal skinfolds. The percentage fraction of total body fat in body mass was measured by means of Tanita TBF 300 electronic body composition analyser. A limb fat to trunk fat ratio (LF/TF) was also calculated in order to evaluate the type of distribution of subcutaneous fat in boys and monitor its changes as affected by regular high physical activity throughout puberty. Lower total body fat and subcutaneous fat in boys from sports schools was the effect of considerably higher physical activity. It was demonstrated that with some minimal values of total body fat and subcutaneous fat, physical activity did not cause a reduction in body fat. It was found that elevated physical activity in boys is conducive to development of a more limb-oriented (peripheral) fatness, which is more favourable to human health.
Background: The rising prevalence of obesity in children may be due to a reduction in physical activity (PA). Objective: Our aim was to study the associations of objectively measured PA volume and its subcomponents with indicators of body fatness. Design: A cross-sectional study of 1292 children aged 9 -10 y from 4 distinct regions in Europe (Odense, Denmark; the island of Madeira, Portugal; Oslo; and Tartu, Estonia) was conducted. PA was measured by accelerometry, and indicators of body fatness were the sum of 5 skinfold thicknesses and body mass index (BMI; in kg/m 2 ). We examined the associations between PA and body fatness by using general linear models adjusted for potential confounding variables. Results: After adjustment for sex, study location, sexual maturity, birth weight, and parental BMI, time (min/d) spent at moderate and vigorous PA (P ҃ 0.032) and time (min/d) spent at vigorous PA were significantly (P ҃ 0.015) and independently associated with body fatness. Sex, study location, sexual maturity, birth weight, and parental BMI explained 29% (adjusted R 2 ҃ 0.29) of the variation in body fatness. Time spent at vigorous PA explained an additional 0.5%. Children who accumulated 1 h of moderate PA/d were significantly fatter than were those who accumulated 2 h/d.
Investigation of Physical Activity Levels and Body Compositions of Adolescent Boys and Girls
Ethno Med, 2015
The purpose of this study is to investigate the physical activity and body composition of boys and girls between 14 and 18 years of age studying in high school. The research comprises 532 people without any health problems, including 279 girls and 253 boys, who participated voluntarily. An independent t-test, the Pearson Correlation test and Chi-square test were used. There was a significant difference (p<0.001) between the pedometer values of boys (12377.59 ± 4245.16) and girls (9438.95 ± 2806.01). In the standard of Body Mass Index (BMI) values, girls were average and below by seventy-six percent, overweight by 17.2 percent, obese by 6.8 percent, while boys were average and below by 75.1 percent, overweight by 18.6 percent, and obese by 6.3 percent. A significant relationship was found at a level of p<0.05 between the daily step counts and BMI variables of boys (r=-.156) and girls (r=-.121). Consequently, improving the physical activity level is thought to be a factor inhibiting obesity.
Physical activity and physical fitness in children and their relationship on body fat
Journal of Human Sport and Exercise, 2022
Low levels of physical activity and physical fitness are risk factors of obesity and cardiovascular disease from childhood to adulthood. According to several studies, inactivity increases with the age of the school students. In Spain, according to results of the 2018 Report, only 34% of boys and 27% of girls aged 3 to 14 are active. This study aimed to compare differences between genders in body composition and PA; to analyse the relationship between the variables studied. Methods: This study used a non-experimental research design. PAQ-C questionnaire and ALPHA-Fitness tests were used. Descriptive analysis, correlation and linear regression gave the following results: boys had better scores in PA, and worse in BF percentage. PA in boys is related to aerobic capacity (r = 0.426, p < .01), BMI and BF (r =-0.368, and-0.323, p < .01 respectively). BF variability in boys (R 2 = 0.35) is determined by aerobic capacity (t =-4.161; p < .01) and lower-body explosive strength (t =-3.832; p < .01). Findings show an association between PA and the elements of PF studied, and an explanatory model of body fat based on aerobic capacity and lower-body explosive strength in boys.
Pediatric obesity, 2015
The data regarding prospective associations between physical activity (PA) and adiposity in youth are inconsistent. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between baseline levels of objectively measured PA and changes in adiposity over 2.5 years from mid-to-late adolescence. This was an observational cohort study in 728 school students (43% boys) from Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. Fat mass index (FMI, kg m(-2) ) was estimated at baseline (mean ± standard deviation age: 15 ± 0.3 years) and follow-up (17.5 ± 0.3 years) by anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance. Habitual PA was assessed at baseline by ≥3 d combined heart rate and movement sensing. Average daily PA energy expenditure (PAEE) and the time (min d(-1) ) spent in light, moderate and vigorous intensity PA (LPA, MPA and VPA, respectively) was estimated. Multilevel models were used to investigate associations between baseline PA and change in FMI (ΔFMI). Adjustment for baseline age, sex, follow-up dura...