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Between‐ and within‐day variability in physical activity and inactivity in 9‐ and 15‐year‐old European children
Author(s) -
Nilsson A.,
Anderssen S. A.,
Andersen L. B.,
Froberg K.,
Riddoch C.,
Sardinha L. B.,
Ekelund U.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of medicine and science in sports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.575
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1600-0838
pISSN - 0905-7188
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0838.2007.00762.x
Subject(s) - physical activity , leisure time , medicine , demography , sedentary behavior , names of the days of the week , screen time , weekend effect , physical therapy , emergency medicine , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
To examine differences in levels of physical activity (PA), time spent at moderate‐to‐vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) and time spent sedentary between and within days in children from four European countries, 1954 9 – and 15‐year‐olds were included. PA was measured during 2 weekdays and 2 weekend days using the manufacturing technology‐incorporated (MTI) accelerometer. Average count per minute, time spent sedentary, time spent at MVPA and the proportion of children accumulating ≥60 min of MVPA were calculated. Data were compared between weekdays and weekend days and between school time and leisure‐time. Although not entirely consistent across countries, overall PA, time spent sedentary and the proportion of children accumulating ≥60 min of MVPA were higher during weekdays compared with weekend days. Differences in overall PA between school time and leisure‐time were highly inconsistent between countries. Few children (4–31%) accumulated ≥60 min of MVPA either during school time or during leisure‐time. Differences in activity patterns between weekdays and weekend days are explained by less accumulated time in MVPA during weekend days. Weekend days and leisure‐time during weekdays seem appropriate targets when promoting PA in order to increase the proportion of children achieving current recommendations on health‐enhancing PA.