Children who become active.
OBJECTIVE
This article examines factors associated with children aged 4 to 11 becoming and remaining active, and how this differed according to their weight.


METHODS
The data are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth: cycle 1 (1994/95) for the cross-sectional analysis, and cycles 1, 2 and 3 (1994/95 to 1998/99) for the longitudinal analysis.


METHODS
Estimates of physical activity levels in 1994/95 among acceptable-weight and overweight/obese children are presented by age, sex and selected activities (TV viewing, playing computer/video games, and hours of physical education at school). Logistic regression models were constructed for children who were inactive in 1994/95, focusing on the selected activities as predictors of adopting and maintaining an active lifestyle.


RESULTS
Factors associated with children adopting and maintaining an active lifestyle differed, depending on their weight. For overweight/obese children, but not for acceptable-weight children, a relatively high number of physical education hours was predictive of becoming physically active, while frequent TV viewing lowered the odds.
Pérez
Claudio E
CE
Health Statistics Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0T6. Claudio.Perez@statcan.ca
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000145:classification*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015444:Exercise; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data