title: Physical activity of children and youth in Nova Scotia from 2001/02 and 2005/06.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper reports on physical activity of students in grades 3, 7, and 11 from two surveillance studies (from 2001 and 2005).
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomly selected students (Study1 n=1730; Study2 n=2341) from randomly selected schools in Nova Scotia participated. Physical activity was measured for seven consecutive days using Actigraph accelerometers. Descriptive statistics were calculated for moderate, hard, and very hard intensity, and total minutes of physical activity. Between study, grade, and sex differences were determined using univariate Analyses of Variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Students in Study2 were significantly less active (mean [SD]=531.0 [392.3] min/week) than Study1 (662.2 [495.1] min/week). Girls were significantly less active (525.4 [419.1] min/week) than boys (657.1 [460.3] min/week). Students in grade 11 were significantly less active (225.2 [171.1] min/week) than students in grade 7 (457.5 [227.2] min/week) who were significantly less active than students in grade 3 (1038.4 [387.6] min/week). A significant study-grade interaction indicated that compared to students in grades 7 and 11, the level of physical activity in students in grade 3 was considerably lower in Study2 compared to Study1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Given the lower level of physical activity found in Study2, efforts at informing public policy and strategies that promote physical activity in children and youth should be made.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Kinetics, St. Francis Xavier University, PO Box 5000, Antigonish, NS, Canada B2G 2W5. amthomps@stfx.ca
authors.forename: Angela M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Tara-Leigh
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: McHugh
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Blanchard
authors.forename: Philip D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Campagna
authors.forename: Matthew A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Durant
authors.forename: Laurene A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rehman
authors.forename: Rene J L
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Laurie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Wadsworth
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009674:Nova Scotia; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D011336:Probability; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012572:School Health Services; D012737:Sex Factors