title: Are preschool children active enough? Objectively measured physical activity levels.
abstract: The present study aimed to describe accelerometer-based physical activity levels in 4- and 5-year-old children (N = 76) on 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days. The children were sedentary for 9.6 hr (85%) daily, while they engaged in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) for 34 min (5%). Only 7% of the children engaged in MVPA for 60 min per day, and only 26% reached the standard of 120 min of total activity. Their engagement in MVPA did not significantly differ between weekend and weekdays. Mean activity counts and minutes in MVPA did not differ between genders. Physical activity levels in this sample of preschool children were far lower than recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. greet.cardon@UGent.be
authors.forename: Greet M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Cardon
authors.forename: Ilse M M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: De Bourdeaudhuij
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation; D009043:Motor Activity