Purpose To evaluate the influences of social and physical environmental factors within the home on preschoolers’ PA. Methods GT1M Actigraph data for 7 days were obtained in a random sample of 70 boys and 71 girls (5.4 years ± 0.3). Social (parental attitudes, knowledge, social support, rules) and physical environmental factors (play space, TV and ...
Purpose Low levels of physical activity (PA) have been associated with increased risk of child overweight. Multiple studies show that young children are not getting the recommended 60 minutes of PA during their 8-hour day in childcare. (Reilly, 2010) This study will explored whether time spent in childcare is related to children’...
Purpose The aim of this study was to develop objective measures of park use and to describe patterns of park use and its association with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) among adults. Methods From five US states, 238 adults were enrolled in or near 31 study parks. Participants wore a global positioning system (...
Purpose A number of recent studies have found associations between the characteristics of schoolyards and the level of PA of schoolchildren using the schoolyards. Based on these findings, it seems likely that making schoolyards more attractive will help to increase the total amount of PA among schoolchildren. Before starting our ...
Purpose Published experiences of using accelerometers in very young children are scarce. This study tested the usability of one accelerometer type, ActiGraph GT3X, in assessing free-living physical activity of 1.5 year-old Malawian children. Methods Fifty-two Malawian children [23 boys, mean age 17.0 months (range 16.0 – 18.5), mean HAZ -0.83, mean WHZ 0.08] from rural Lungwena ...
Background African American youth residing in the South are at high risk for obesity and physical inactivity. A growing body of evidence suggests that persons living in activity-friendly environments engage in more physical activity (PA); however, access of public recreational facilities varies by neighborhood and demographic characteristics. Additionally, historical and ...
Background Changes in physical activity (PA) levels can be observed among youth. The majority of 11 year olds in Denmark do meet the recommend level of PA; the majority of 15 year olds do not. The chances of not meeting the recommended level of PA as adults are correlated with not meeting ...
Background Hispanic-American preschool children have higher rates of obesity and Hispanic-American youth may be at higher risk for sedentary lifestyles and metabolic syndrome. Both physical and social environmental factors influence young children’s physical activity. The ability to simultaneously capture objective measurement of physical activity and location of young Hispanic-American ...
Background Evidence suggests that parents play an important role in shaping children’s physical activity levels through behavioral modeling and support. Physically active parents are more likely to have physically active children. However, research indicates that on average, parents and children spend less than 5 minutes per day engaging in physical ...
Background Determining the relation of built environment characteristics to physical activity and obesity remains an ongoing public health concern. Recent literature suggests that environment characteristics of smart growth planning (e.g., walkability, preservation of open space) may promote physical activity. However, the majority of studies examining associations between these environmental ...