Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021;52(1):48-55.
doi: 10.1080/19325037.2020.1853631. Epub 2020 Dec 14.

Patterning of physical activity and sedentary behavior at and away from school in preadolescent children

Lexie R Beemer  1 , Erica Twardzik  1   2 , Natalie Colabianchi  1   3 , Rebecca E Hasson  1   4
Affiliations

Patterning of physical activity and sedentary behavior at and away from school in preadolescent children

Lexie R Beemer et al. Am J Health Educ. 2021.

Abstract

Background: Understanding how and where children accumulate their physical activity (PA) and sedentary minutes throughout the day has important implications for behavioral interventions.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the duration and intensity of habitual PA and sedentary time (SED) at and away from school among preadolescent children.

Methods: Data from twenty-one children ages 7-11 (57% girls; 57% non-white; 24% overweight/obese) were included in this analysis. Proportion of time spent in PA, SED, and SED bouts were examined on school days (in-school and out-of-school) and non-school days via accelerometry.

Results: When comparing school time with non-school time on school days, children accumulated a higher proportion of light PA while in-school [49.3% (i.e. 5 minutes 18 seconds) vs. 39.6% (i.e. 3 hours 53 minutes), p=0.01]. While at school, the proportion of time spent in SED was less [46.3% (i.e. 3 hours 7 minutes) vs. 56.3% (i.e. 5 hours 32 minutes), p=0.01] and fewer children spent time engaged in prolonged sitting compared to out-of-school [uninterrupted SED for 30 minutes 52.4% (i.e. 11 children) vs. 85.7% (i.e. 18 children), p=0.02].

Discussion: These findings suggest children are proportionately most active and least sedentary when at school, yet children only accumulated approximately 18 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA in this environment.

Translation to health education practice: These preliminary findings can help to inform physical activity programming designed to promote life-long physical activity behaviors in children.

Keywords: Accelerometry; Child health and health behavior; Physical activity; fitness; health education.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Statement There are no conflicts of interest to report.

References

    1. Janssen I, LeBlanc AG. Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2010;7(1):40. 10.1186/1479-5868-7-40 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. National Physical Activity Plan Alliance. The 2018 United States Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. Washington, D.C: National Physical Activity Plan Alliance; 2018.
    1. Belcher BR, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, Emken BA, Chou CP, Spuijt-Metz D. Physical activity in US youth: impact of race/ethnicity, age, gender, and weight status. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010;42(12):2211–2221. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Saunders TJ, Tremblay MS, Mathieu M-E, et al. Associations of sedentary behavior, sedentary bouts and breaks in sedentary time with cardiometabolic risk in children with a family history of obesity. PLoS One. 2013;8(11): e79143. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0079143 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tremblay MS, Colley RC, Saunders TJ, Healy GN, Owen N. Physiological and health implications of a sedentary lifestyle. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2010;35(6):725–740. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources