Longitudinal Changes in Children’s Accelerometer-derived Activity Pattern Metrics
Open accessAbstract
Purpose: The objective of this study was to quantify age-related changes in accelerometer-derived day-level physical activity and sedentary behavior pattern metrics (i.e., number, length, and temporal dispersion of bouts and breaks) across 3 yr of middle childhood. Differences by child sex and weekend versus weekday were examined. Method: Children ( N = 169, 54% female, 56% Hispanic; 8–12 yr old at enrollment) participated in a longitudinal study with six assessments across 3 yr. Day-level moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; i.e., total minutes, number of short (<10 min) bouts, proportion of long (≥20 min) bouts, temporal dispersion) and sedentary behavior (i.e., total minutes, number of breaks, proportion of long (≥60 min) bouts, temporal dispersion) pattern metrics were measured using a waist-worn accelerometer (Actigraph GT3X). Results: Random intercept multilevel linear regression models showed that age-related decreases in the number of short MVPA bouts per were steeper for girls than for boys ( b = −1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI), −1.93 to −0.64; P < 0.01) and on weekend days than on weekdays ( b = −1.82; 95% CI, −2.36 to −1.29; P < 0.01). The evenness of the temporal dispersion of MVPA across the day increased more on weekend days than on weekdays as children got older ( b = −0.02; 95% CI, −0.02 to −0.01; P < 0.01). Girls had steeper age-related decreases in the number of sedentary breaks per day ( b = −2.89; 95% CI, −3.97 to −1.73; P < 0.01) and the evenness of the temporal dispersion of sedentary behavior across the day ( b ≤ 0.01; 95% CI, <0.01 to 0.01; P < 0.01) than did boys. Changes in sedentary behavior metrics did not differ between weekend days and weekdays. Conclusion: Strategies to protect against declines in short physical activity bouts and promote sedentary breaks, especially among girls and on weekend days, could reduce cardiometabolic risks.
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Physical activity typically declines and sedentary behavior increases as children get older.
“Although PA typically declines and SB increases as children get older [33, 35–38]”
From Early effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity and sedentary behavior in children living in the U.S. (2020) · cites this paper as [38]
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- Authors
- DUNTON, G. F., YANG, C.-H., ZINK, J., DZUBUR, E., & BELCHER, B. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Southern California (US)
- Venue
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- Published
- 2019-12-31
- Volume
- 52
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1307-1313
- ISSN
- 0195-9131 (ISSN-L)
- 1530-0315
- PMC
- PMC7239724
- OpenAlex
- W2997920469
- Cited by
- 25
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 7
- FWCI
- 3.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL119255, R01HL121330)
- National Cancer Institute (T32CA009492)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition › Context-Aware Activity Recognition Systems
- Keywords
- physical activity patterns, sedentary behavior, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, temporal dispersion, sedentary breaks, age-related changes, middle childhood, sex differences, children
- MeSH terms
- Fitness Trackers, Age Factors, Child, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Sex Factors, Exercise, Sedentary Behavior, Accelerometry
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