ActiTrainer-determined segmented moderate-to-vigorous physical activity patterns among normal-weight and overweight-to-obese Czech schoolchildren.
This study uncovered the patterns of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in normal-weight and overweight/obese children before, during, and after school lessons. ActiTrainer-based MVPA was assessed over 2 school days (with and without a physical education lesson [PEL] in a sample of three hundred thirty-eight 9- to 11-year-old children (50.3 % female; 29.6 % overweight/obese), in the Czech Republic, during spring 2012. MVPA was quantified based on the step count (number), MVPA duration, and MVPA heart-rate response (minutes). No differences in the MVPA based on the time during the school day were confirmed in normal-weight versus overweight/obese girls, whereas normal-weight boys significantly exceed their overweight/obese peers in step count and after-school and daylong MVPA. Active participation in PEL contributes to a significantly higher step count, exercise duration, and MVPA heart-rate response in normal-weight and overweight/obese boys (p < 0.001) and normal-weight (p < 0.001) and overweight/obese (p < 0.04) girls during school time. Moreover, active participation in PEL significantly (p < 0.04) increases the overall daily step count, duration, and MVPA heart-rate response in normal-weight boys and overweight/obese girls. Active exercise during PEL accounted for 16.7 % of the total number of steps, 25.1 % of overall MVPA duration, and 24.1 % of the MVPA heart-rate response in 9- to 11-year-old children. During days with a PEL, a significantly (p < 0.02) higher number of overweight/obese girls and a higher number of normal-weight boys achieved the duration of 60 min/day of MVPA compared with days without a PEL.


CONCLUSIONS
Adding one PEL or an equivalent amount of MVPA to the daily school routine appears to be a promising strategy to effectively increase daily MVPA, particularly among overweight/obese girls.
Center for Kinanthropology Research, Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, erik.sigmund@upol.cz.
Erik
E
Sigmund
Dagmar
D
Sigmundová
Romana
R
Snoblová
Andrea Madarásová
AM
Gecková
D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D018153:Czech Republic; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods*; D012574:Schools