Weekday and Weekend Physical Activity of Preschool Children in Relation to Selected Socioeconomic Indicators

Jarosław Herbert, Piotr Matłosz, Alejandro Martínez-Rodríguez, Krzysztof Przednowek, Muhammad Asif and Justyna Wyszyńska
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Jarosław Herbert: Institute of Physical Culture Sciences, Medical College, University of Rzeszów, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
Piotr Matłosz: Institute of Physical Culture Sciences, Medical College, University of Rzeszów, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
Alejandro Martínez-Rodríguez: Department of Analytical Chemistry, Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Sciences, University of Alicante, 03690 Alicante, Spain
Krzysztof Przednowek: Institute of Physical Culture Sciences, Medical College, University of Rzeszów, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland
Muhammad Asif: Govt. Associate College Qadir Pur Raan, Multan 60000, Pakistan
Justyna Wyszyńska: Institute of Health Sciences, Medical College, University of Rzeszów, 35-959 Rzeszów, Poland

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-17

Abstract: Physical activity (PA) is as vital for improving the health of young children as it is positively associated with a broad range of psychological, cognitive, and cardio-metabolic outcomes. The aims of this study were to: (1) to assess the level of PA and meeting the WHO recommendations: moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and the number of steps in Polish preschool boys and girls on weekdays and on weekends; (2) to investigate the relationship between selected socioeconomic indicators (self-reported by parents) and PA, including meeting the WHO recommendation for daily MVPA and the number of steps on weekdays and on weekends among Polish preschoolers. Data were collected in the 2017/2018 school year. The study included a total of 522 boys and girls both aged between 5 and 6 years. The ActiGraph GT3X-BT tri-axial accelerometer was used to measure PA. Selected socioeconomic indicators as well as parental body weight and body height were self-reported by parents/caregivers using a questionnaire. In most of the PA indicators analyzed for girls (moderate, vigorous, total MVPA, and steps/day), the averages were higher during the week than during the weekend. Moreover, significantly more boys met the criteria of MVPA, both on weekdays and over the weekend (32.3% boys and 19.2% girls on weekdays and 31.1% boys and 18.1% girls on weekends). Additionally, more boys met the step recommendations, but only on weekends (15.5% boys and 6.6% girls). It was found that if there were two people in a household, there was an almost a three-fold greater chance (adj. OR = 2.94, p = 0.032) of meeting the MVPA criterion with an even stronger association (over fivefold greater chance) in meeting the step recommendation (adj. OR = 5.56, p = 0.033). The differences in the day schedule may potentially contribute with the level of PA in girls. Among the analyzed selected socioeconomic indicators, only the number of people in a household had a significant association on PA.

Keywords: accelerometry; objective monitoring; young children; physical activity; preschool (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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