Objective Measurement of 24-Hour Movement Behaviors in Preschool Children Using Wrist-Worn and Thigh-Worn Accelerometers

Marieke De Craemer, Marga Decraene, Iris Willems, Feija Buysse, Ellen Van Driessche and Vera Verbestel
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Marieke De Craemer: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Marga Decraene: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Iris Willems: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Feija Buysse: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Ellen Van Driessche: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
Vera Verbestel: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Ghent University, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-9

Abstract: In recent years, more attention has been paid towards the study of 24-h movement behaviors (including physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep) in preschoolers instead of studying these behaviors in isolation. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using wrist- vs. thigh-worn accelerometers and to report accelerometer-derived metrics of 24-h movement behaviors in preschoolers. A convenience sample of 16 preschoolers (50.0% boys, 4.35 years) and one of their parents were recruited for this study. Preschoolers had to wear the ActivPAL accelerometer (attached to the upper thigh) and Axivity accelerometer (using a wrist band) simultaneously for 7 consecutive days and for 24 h a day. Parents completed an acceptability survey. In total, 16 preschoolers (100.0%) had a minimum of 6 days of valid wrist-worn data, while only 10 preschoolers (62.5%) had a minimum of 6 days of valid thigh-worn data ( p = 0.002). When looking at the acceptability, 81.3% of parents indicated that it was easy for their child to wear the Axivity for 7 consecutive days, and 93.8% of parents indicated so for the ActivPAL ( p = 0.88). However, some parents stated that the wristband of the Axivity accelerometer was big, which might have affected data collection. Significant differences were found for the measurement of total volume of PA, SB and sleep across 24 h. Total PA was 464.44 min/day (±64.00) with the ActivPAL compared with 354.94 min/day (±57.46) with the Axivity ( p < 0.001). The volume of SB was 290.94 min/day (±55.05) with the ActivPAL compared with 440.50 min/day (±50.01) with the Axivity ( p < 0.001). The total volume of sleep was also significantly different between both devices ( p = 0.001; ActivPAL: 684.63 min/day ± 51.96; Axivity: 645.69 min/day ± 46.78). Overall, parents perceived both devices to be feasible to use for preschoolers. However, future studies are required to validate both devices for the measurement of preschoolers’ 24-h movement behaviors since significant differences in the classification of PA, SB and sleep were found in this small sample.

Keywords: ActivPAL; Axivity; preschoolers; 24-h movement behaviors; physical activity; sitting time; sleep duration; objective measurement (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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