Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity Levels and Patterns Vary in an Age- and Sex-Dependent Fashion among Finnish Children and Adolescents

Anne-Mari Jussila, Pauliina Husu, Henri Vähä-Ypyä, Kari Tokola, Sami Kokko, Harri Sievänen and Tommi Vasankari
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Anne-Mari Jussila: The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, FI-33500 Tampere, Finland
Pauliina Husu: The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, FI-33500 Tampere, Finland
Henri Vähä-Ypyä: The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, FI-33500 Tampere, Finland
Kari Tokola: The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, FI-33500 Tampere, Finland
Sami Kokko: Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, The University of Jyväskylä, Seminaarinkatu 15, FI-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland
Harri Sievänen: The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, FI-33500 Tampere, Finland
Tommi Vasankari: The UKK Institute for Health Promotion Research, Kaupinpuistonkatu 1, FI-33500 Tampere, Finland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Background: The purpose of this study was to measure physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and hour-by-hour PA patterns with an accelerometer in a population-based sample of Finnish children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 3274 participants (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th graders) from 176 schools wore a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer for seven days during waking hours. Mean amplitude deviation of the acceleration data was used to assess PA intensity that was converted to metabolic equivalents and categorized into light, moderate, and vigorous PA. Angle for posture estimation was used to measure SB and standing. Results: The majority of participants’ PA consisted of light PA, and they were sedentary for more than half of their waking hours. Children were more active than adolescents, and boys were more active than girls. Participants took, on average, 9890 steps daily, and one third met the PA recommendation. The participants were divided into tertiles based on daily steps to investigate the variation in PA patterns. Compared to the least active tertile, the most active tertile took twice as many steps on weekdays and nearly three times as many steps on the weekend. Conclusions: The majority of the participants were not active enough, and there was a great variation in PA levels and patterns, especially among the adolescents and on weekends.

Keywords: physical activity; sedentary behavior; daily steps; moderate intensity; light intensity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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