title: Physical activity during soccer and its contribution to physical activity recommendations in normal weight and overweight children.
abstract: Amid the childhood obesity epidemic, understanding how organized sports participation contributes to meeting physical activity recommendations in children is important. Anthropometrics were measured in children (n = 111; 68% female, 9.1 ± 0.8 yr) before one 50-min soccer match. Time spent at different physical activity intensity levels was examined using Actigraph accelerometers. 49% of the match time was spent in sedentary activity (25.4 ± 5.7 min), while 33% of the match (16.9 ± 4.7 min) was spent in moderate-to-vigorous activity (MVPA; p < .001). 22.5% of the children were overweight/obese and spent more time in sedentary activity (+3.2 ± 1.2 min; p < .05) and less time in MVPA (-3.0 ± 1.0 min; p < .01) compared with the normal weight children. These data demonstrate that playing an organized sport such as soccer only meets a portion (~25%) of the 60 min of MVPA recommended and even less of this recommendation is met by overweight/obese children.
authors.affiliation: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sacheck
authors.forename: Tara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ficker
authors.forename: Tamar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kafka
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuder
authors.forename: Christina D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Economos
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D056044:Actigraphy; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001481:Basal Metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D015930:Diet Records; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D050177:Overweight; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012916:Soccer / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors