On the basis of our data, we suggest that a new step count target of 6000 steps per day should be used to determine whether 3- to 5-yr-old children are meeting physical activity recommendations.

The objectives of this study were to (i) assess sedentary time and prevalence of screen-based sedentary behaviors of children with a chronic disease and (ii) compare sedentary time and prevalence of screen-based sedentary behaviors to age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Sixty-five children (aged 6-18 years) with a chronic disease participated: survivors of a brain tumor, hemophilia, type 1 diabetes mellitus, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, cystic fibrosis, and Crohn's disease. Twenty-nine of these participants were compared with age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Sedentary time was measured objectively by an ActiGraph GT1M or GT3× accelerometer worn for 7 consecutive days and defined as less than 100 counts per min. A questionnaire was used to assess screen-based sedentary behaviors. Children with a chronic disease engaged in an average of 10.2 ± 1.4 hr of sedentary time per day, which comprised 76.5 ± 7.1% of average daily monitoring time. There were no differences between children with a chronic disease and controls in sedentary time (adjusted for wear time, p = .06) or in the prevalence of TV watching, and computer or video game usage for varying durations (p = .78, p = .39 and, p = .32 respectively). Children with a chronic disease, though relatively healthy, accumulate high levels of sedentary time, similar to those of their healthy peers.

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease prevention should begin in childhood. However, the influence of physical activity on cardiovascular health in early childhood is unknown. Our purpose in this study was to determine the effect of physical activity on trajectories of cardiovascular health indicators during early childhood. METHODS: This prospective, observational cohort study (Health Outcomes and Physical Activity in Preschoolers) enrolled 418 3- to 5-year-olds with annual assessments for 3 years. Total physical activity (TPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were measured over 7 days via accelerometry. Cardiovascular health indicators included cardiovascular fitness (exercise time on a maximal treadmill test [treadmill time] and 1-minute heart rate recovery), resting arterial stiffness (whole-body pulse wave velocity and carotid β stiffness index), and seated systolic blood pressure. Data were analyzed by using linear mixed-effects modeling; effects are reported as unstandardized estimates (Est). RESULTS: There were main effects of TPA and MVPA on treadmill time (Est = 0.004 [P = .005] and 0.008 [P = .001], respectively) and heart rate recovery (Est = 0.05 [P < .001] and 0.08 [P < .001], respectively). There was a main effect of TPA on pulse wave velocity (Est = −0.001; P = .02) and an MVPA × time interaction (Est = −0.002; P = .01). For carotid β stiffness index, the effect of a TPA × time interaction was not significant (Est = −0.002; P = .051); however, there was a significant MVPA × time interaction (Est = −0.003; P = .03). MVPA was associated with a slower rate of change in systolic blood pressure for girls (Est = 0.06; P = .009). CONCLUSIONS: Children who engage in higher levels of physical activity during early childhood have better cardiovascular health indicators, with more intense physical activity (ie, MVPA) attenuating the stiffening of arteries.

The early years are characterized by rapid physical growth and the development of behaviours such as physical activity. The objectives of this study were to assess the 12-month changes in and the tracking of physical activity and fitness in 400 preschoolers (201 boys, 4.5 ± 0.9 years of age). Physical activity data, expressed as minutes per day and as the percentage of time spent at various intensities while wearing an accelerometer, were collected in 3-s epochs for 7 days. Short-term muscle power, assessed with a 10-s modified Wingate Anaerobic Test, was expressed as absolute (W) and relative (W/kg) peak power (PP) and mean power (MP). Aerobic fitness, assessed with the Bruce Protocol progressive treadmill test, was expressed as maximal treadmill time and heart rate recovery (HRR). Light physical activity decreased by 3.2 min/day (p < 0.05), whereas vigorous physical activity increased by 3.7 min/day (p < 0.001), from year 1 to year 2. Physical activity exhibited moderate tracking on the basis of Spearman correlations (r = 0.45-0.59, p < 0.001) and fair tracking on the basis of κ statistics (κ = 0.26-0.38). PP and MP increased from year 1 (PP, 94.1 ± 37.3 W; MP, 84.1 ± 30.9 W) to year 2 (PP, 125.6 ± 36.2 W; MP, 112.3 ± 32.2 W) (p < 0.001) and tracked moderately to substantially (PP, r = 0.89, κ = 0.61; MP, r = 0.86, κ = 0.56). Time to exhaustion on the treadmill increased from 9.4 ± 2.3 min to 11.8 ± 2.3 min (p < 0.001) and tracked strongly (r = 0.82, κ = 0.56). HRR was unchanged at 65 ± 14 beats/min (p = 0.297) and tracked fairly (r = 0.52, κ = 0.23). The findings indicate that fitness tracks better than physical activity over a 12-month period during the early years.

Young children's activity and sedentary time were simultaneously measured via the Actical method (i.e., Actical accelerometer and specific cut-points) and the ActiGraph method (i.e., ActiGraph accelerometer and specific cut-points) at both 15-s and 60-s epochs to explore possible differences between these 2 measurement approaches. For 7 consecutive days, participants (n = 23) wore both the Actical and ActiGraph side-by-side on an elastic neoprene belt. Device-specific cut-points were applied. Paired sample t tests were conducted to determine the differences in participants' daily average activity levels and sedentary time (min/h) measured by the 2 devices at 15-s and 60-s time sampling intervals. Bland-Altman plots were used to examine agreement between Actical and ActiGraph accelerometers. Regardless of epoch length, Actical accelerometers reported significantly higher rates of sedentary time (15 s: 42.7 min/h vs 33.5 min/h; 60 s: 39.4 min/h vs 27.1 min/h). ActiGraph accelerometers captured significantly higher rates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (15 s: 9.2 min/h vs 2.6 min/h; 60 s: 8.0 min/h vs 1.27 min/h) and total physical activity (15 s: 31.7 min/h vs 22.3 min/h; 60 s: = 39.4 min/h vs 25.2 min/h) in comparison with Actical accelerometers. These results highlight the present accelerometry-related issues with interpretation of datasets derived from different monitors.