Obesity and physical activity patterns in children and adolescents

Abstract

It is clear that activity levels are insufficient for all children, in particular overweight/obese children and adolescents, although the precise nature of the relationship appears to differ between boys and girls.

It’s A-bout Time: Detailed Patterns of Physical Activity in Obese Adolescents Participating in a Lifestyle Intervention

“…Firstly, a better understanding of patterns of activity may be valuable information for designing successful interventions that target certain activity behaviors or times or days. 7,8 Secondly, detailed information can be used to assess adherence to key intervention messages, such as reducing prolonged bouts of sedentary time. Thirdly, recent literature has suggested that the absolute levels of activity may not be enough to explain differences in health outcomes, but particular patterns in behavior may be critical (including intensity and bout length).…”

“…A few previous studies have examined the differences in weekend versus school day behavior of obese and overweight children and adolescents. 7,13,14 Laguna et al found no differences in physical activity between weekdays and weekends for overweight or normal weight adolescents. 7 Conversely, Treuth et al found that both overweight and normal weight girls participated in less moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity (MVPA) on the weekends compared to weekdays.…”

“…7,13,14 Laguna et al found no differences in physical activity between weekdays and weekends for overweight or normal weight adolescents. 7 Conversely, Treuth et al found that both overweight and normal weight girls participated in less moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity (MVPA) on the weekends compared to weekdays. 13 Similarly, Vanhelst et al found that participants were less active on weekends and saw greater improvements in physical activity during the weekend following a one-year intervention.…”

“…14 Laguna et al also analysed physical activity by the hour of the day on weekdays and weekends and found no significant differences for overweight adolescents while normal weight adolescents participated in more physical activity during the afternoon and weekend compared to the morning. 7 In addition to daily patterns of physical activity, specific patterns of physical activity intensities and durations may have differential health effects. Emerging evidence suggests that long, uninterrupted bouts of sedentary time may have uniquely detrimental health effects.…”

Objectively Determined Physical Activity Levels in German Primary School Children after a One Year School-based Health Promoting Intervention

“…In Germany, less than a fifth of school children between the ages of 7 and 10 years engage in sufficient MVPA [13,14]. Yet, these data are based on self-report, but even with objectively derived data, children hardly meet the WHO physical activity recommendations [15][16][17][18][19]. This has been shown to especially vary between gender and countries.…”