Physical activity patterns of rural Senegalese adolescent girls during the dry and rainy seasons measured by movement registration and direct observation methods.
OBJECTIVE
To study the physical activity patterns and daily estimates of energy expenditure (EE) of rural adolescent Senegalese girls.


METHODS
Physical activity was monitored using a portable accelerometer during four consecutive days and within the same time, by direct observation during two consecutive days. Adolescent girls were followed during the dry season (June, n = 40) and again during the rainy season (September, n = 30)


METHODS
The Niakhar district in the central part of Senegal.


METHODS
Forty adolescents (13.3+/-0.5 y) drawn from a sample of 221 rural girls followed as part of a longitudinal study on growth and nutrition during puberty.


RESULTS
Reliability of movement counts was acceptable (intraclass correlation, R = 0.71). There was a linear relationship between movement counts and observed scores. Predicted physical activity levels were high: 1.90+/-0.12 Mets (EE: 9.03+/-0.77 MJ). Physical activity levels derived from movement counts during the day are higher in the rainy season than during the dry season. This coincided with a depression in nutritional indicators during the rainy season apparent in the overall sample. Sleep duration appeared to be short in both seasons (6-6.5h per night). Senegalese adolescents participated in daily household tasks but time spent in productive activities, agricultural or handicraft, was less than 1 h per day.


CONCLUSIONS
Estimates of activity-related EE of Senegalese adolescents were greater than those of adolescents from developed countries but closed to recent estimates for rural areas in developing countries. Energy requirements drawn from developed countries do not necessarily apply to African adolescent girls.
Bénéfice
E
E
Lab de Nutrition Tropicale, Institut de recherche pour le Développement (anciennement ORSTOM), Montpellier, France.
Cames
C
C
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001824:Body Constitution / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004734:Energy Metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D019370:Observation; D011996:Records; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012423:Rural Health; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012621:Seasons; D012675:Senegal