Daily differences in patterns of physical activity among overweight/obese children engaged in a physical activity program.
The aim of this study was to compare the physical activity of overweight/obese children during days when they attended a physical activity program, and days when they did not. This is a cross-sectional intervention study of daily physical activity. The participants were referred by family, doctors, or hospital pediatricians to take part in a 10-month interdisciplinary, outpatient obesity intervention program for children. The subjects included 41 overweight and obese children aged 8-16 years, 19 boys (46%) and 22 girls (54%); BMI: 25.7 + 3.3 kg m(-2). The MTI Actigraph was used as an objective measure of daily physical activity over seven consecutive days. Physical activity program days presented a significantly higher percentage of time (4.68%) spent in moderate-to-vigorous activity compared with no physical activity program days (3.16%) and weekend (2.7%). The results of this study suggest that a physical activity program can help increasing daily physical activity in obese children, with a special focus on MVPA level. Our data point that obese children are less active at weekend than during weekdays.
Aires
Luísa
L
Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal. luisa.aires@gmail.com
Santos
Rute
R
Silva
Pedro
P
Santos
Paula
P
Oliveira
José
J
Ribeiro
José C
JC
Rego
Carla
C
Mota
Jorge
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology*; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013997:Time Factors