title: The place of physical activity in the time budgets of 10- to 13-year-old Australian children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Low physical activity has been associated with increased fatness and deceased fitness. This observational study aimed to describe the magnitude, composition, and time-distribution of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in Australian children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1132 10 to 13 year old schoolchildren completed a 24-h activity recall diary on 2 to 4 occasions. MVPA was defined as any activity requiring ≥3METs, including sport, play, active transport, chores, and other activities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MVPA was higher in boys than girls (173 vs 140 min/day; P<.0001), higher on nonschool days than school days (166 vs 143 min/day; P<.0001), and decreased with age (9 min/day per year of age). MVPA consisted of structured sport (37%), active transport (26%), unstructured play (24%), and chores/miscellaneous activities (13%). Every hour of MVPA was associated with a reduction in screen time (26.5 min), non-screen-based sedentary pastimes (8 min), and sleep (5.5 min). The least active quartile of children were more likely to be girls (OR=3.4), have higher screen time, and sleep more. From 4:00-6:30 PM on school days there were large differences in participation between high-active and low-active children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest MVPA interventions should target girls, screen time and focus on the after-school period.
authors: Sansom Institute, School of Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Olds
authors: Carol Ann
authors: CA
authors: Maher
authors: Kate
authors: K
authors: Ridley