A simple assessment of physical activity is associated with obesity and motor fitness in pre-school children.
OBJECTIVE
Physical activity is an important determinant of energy balance. However, its impact on overweight/obesity has proved difficult to measure in pre-school children and few studies have found significant associations. A set of simple questions was used to distinguish pre-school children with high and low physical activity, and the association of this classification with childhood overweight/obesity and performance in an established motor test was investigated.


METHODS
Survey, cross-sectional.


METHODS
Weight and height were measured in 12,556 children taking part in the obligatory school entrance health examination 2004-5 and 2005-6 in three urban and three rural Bavarian regions. Their parents were asked to answer a questionnaire with a set of questions on physical activity.


RESULTS
The mean age of the children evaluated was 5.78 (sd 0.43) years, 6535 (52.1 %) were boys. Physically active children were less likely to be overweight (OR = 0.786, 95 % CI 0.687, 0.898) or obese (OR = 0.655, 95 % CI 0.506, 0.849) and achieved 6.7 (95 % CI 5.8, 7.7) % more jumps per 30 s than less active children in a motor test, adjusted for a number of potentially confounding variables.


CONCLUSIONS
Classification of pre-school children as physically active or not, based on a small set of questions, revealed significant associations with overweight/obesity and a motor test. Once further validated, this classification might provide a valuable tool to assess the impact of physical activity on the risk of childhood overweight and obesity.
Bayer
Otmar
O
Institute for Social Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Heiglhofstrasse 63, D-81377 Munich, Germany. Otmar.Bayer@lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Bolte
Gabriele
G
Morlock
Gabriele
G
Rückinger
Simon
S
von Kries
Rüdiger
R
D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002965:Classification / Q000379:methods; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009765:Obesity; D050177:Overweight; D010809:Physical Fitness; D016012:Poisson Distribution; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors