A comparison of physical activity in Gambian and UK children aged 6-18 months.
The activity patterns of 81 Gambian and 53 UK children aged six, 12 or 18 months were compared by means of an activity diary technique. Major differences between communities were observed in the duration of play (2-3 times longer in UK compared to Gambian children) and in the duration of vigorous activities such as crawling, walking and running (2-4 times longer duration in the UK compared to the The Gambia). To investigate whether the lower activity of Gambian children could be explained by differences in nutritional or health status, subgroups of Gambian children were compared. Only small differences in activity pattern were found between Gambian children above and below 80% weight for age and between Gambian children who were or were not diagnosed ill within 10 days of study, suggesting that other factors (e.g. socio-cultural differences or the absence of conventional toys) may explain the lower activity of Gambian compared to UK children.
Medical Research Council Dunn Nutrition Unit, Keneba, The Gambia.
M
M
Lawrence
F
F
Lawrence
J V
JV
Durnin
R G
RG
Whitehead
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001835:Body Weight; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005714:Gambia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology