Introduction: Childhood obesity is a consequence of environments that disrupt the balance of energy intake and energy expenditure. Obesogenic environments consist of social norms and environmental factors that facilitate unhealthy behaviors around diet and physical activity. Nutritional knowledge and physical activity are cornerstones of every obesity treatment. The aims are ...
Aim: Abdominal obesity, a status of excessive accumulation of both central subcutaneous and visceral fat, has emerged as an main predictor for metabolic complications and adverse health effects. Waist-height ratio (WHR) is simple, yet effective, surrogate measures of abdominal obesity and may be good predictor of cardiovascular disease risk in ...
Introduction: Atherosclerosis begins in youth and is related to the presence of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors (CMRF): age, gender, nutrition, physical inactivity, cardiorespiratory fitness (CF), blood pressure (BP), lipids and overweight/obesity. There is strong evidence showing that schools should include nutrition and physical activity (PA) in the curriculum. ...
Introduction: Little objective data have examined the effectiveness of physical education (PE) in schools to augment students’ physical activity (PA) level. We believe that PE is one of the most important methods to increase PA among school aged children. Most studies have shown that students spend less than 50% of PE ...
Purpose: The study of children’s free-living cadence (steps/min) is possible using accelerometers capable of recording minute-by-minute step data monitored over several days. The objective of this study was to determine free-living accelerometer- determined time at or above GAITRite-assessed individualized normal cadence in children categorized by BMI as normal ...
Purpose: Accelerometers are commonly used as an objective measure of sedentary behavior, but the method of defining nonwear time directly affects sedentary estimates. The present study examined nonwear definitions and their impact on detection of sedentary time in youth using different ActiGraph models and filters. Methods: 60 youth (34 children and 26 adolescents; ...
Purpose: Most studies of neighbourhood features examine singular neighbourhood attributes, which may pattern in different ways. This study aimed to identify typologies of neighbourhood attributes and their associations with physical activity among children. Methods: The homes of 808 children aged 5-6 and 10-12 years were mapped in a Geographic Information System. ...
Purpose: To examine opportunities for physical activity (PA) at child care and how they relate to the amount and intensity of PA. Methods: 44 children (mean age 4.1 yrs, 57% girls) from 5 centers wore accelerometers and were observed for average 7.6 hours/ day (total 29 days). Observers coded activities into: 1) Not an active play opportunity, 2) ...
Purpose: Regular physical activity (PA) in children is associated with improved health. The aims of this study were to describe the patterns of daily PA and to assess compliance with recommendations for total physical activity in preschool children. Methods: This study sample comprised 856 preschool children, aged 3 to 6 years. Children wore ...
Purpose: Motherhood represents a critical window of change in the life-course including physical activity levels. No studies have objectively examined the daily cadence (patterns) of physical activity (PA) among dyads of preschool aged children and mothers. In this study we examined mother-child dyads’ PA levels across week and weekend day ...