Background Research studies have shown the importance of built environment in affecting people’s physical activity. Lack of sidewalks, nearby parks, and recreation centers in the neighborhood are believed to be some of the key environmental barriers to physical activity. On the other hand, factors such as presence of crosswalks, ...
Background Humans have an innate connection and attraction to nature, often referred to as ‘biophilia.’ Exposure to nature has been reported to have a positive impact on health, and several studies have documented that engaging in physical activity outdoors improves mental health and well being. Exact mechanisms remain unknown but ...
Background Due to concern about United States (US) levels of physical activity among youth, in 2009 the American Academy of Pediatrics released a policy statement promoting environments and policies favoring physical activity, such as consideration of easier access to parks and open space. Parks provide free or low cost public space ...
A problem exists in applying the kinetic energy equation KE mv2 to estimates of energy expenditure based on activity counts over long epochs. The instantaneous velocity should be obtained over short time periods (on the order of 0.1 second) and squared to obtain the instantaneous kinetic energy. The instantaneous KE is ...
Objectives This study examines whether moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), in at least 30-min school breaks (SB), helps to achieve the health-related amount of daily physical activity (PA) and whether these exercises influence after-school PA. Methods The ActiTrainer-based PA was monitored over two school days in 239 children aged from 9 to 10 (57.3% female; 20.1% ...
Background Increasing understanding of environmental and social correlates of physical activity can inform environmental and policy changes that help create active communities for youth. An emerging body of research suggests that all youth may not have the same level of access to physical activity resources and this may explain socioeconomic ...
Background The local build environment is believed to play an important role in youth physical activity (PA) as their independent mobility is restricted. To be able to target interventions to promote PA among youth knowledge about objectively measured PA patterns is important. We would like to be able to answer ...
Background Schools provide a unique setting for the promotion of physical activity (PA) in children through structured physical education, recesses, extracurricular sports and promotion of community activities. Because recesses may contribute up to 40% of moderate/vigorous activity, approaches that increase activity during recess are of interest. A number of recent ...
Background Over the last decades, a decline in motor skills and in physical activity and an increase in obesity has been observed in children. However, there is a lack of data in young children. We tested if differences in motor skills and in physical activity according to weight or gender ...
Although the measurement of physical activity with wearable monitors may be considered objective, consensus guidelines for collecting and processing these objective data are lacking. This article presents an algorithm embodying best practice recommendations for collecting, processing, and reporting physical activity data routinely collected with accelerometry-based activity monitors. This algorithm is ...