Background Perceptions of neighborhood safety are important environmental factors associated with physical activity. Safety is a multi-layered concept that is perceived differently by different groups of people (e.g., adults vs. children, male vs. female, white vs. non-white Hispanic) and for different judgmental criteria (e.g., safety from crime, traffic ...
Background Although physical activity fosters healthy development among children (such as reducing obesity and type 2 diabetes risk as well as promoting positive mental well-being), less than half of children meet national physical activity guidelines. The accumulating research indicates that neighborhood environmental characteristics (e.g. access to walking destinations and community ...
Background Toward stemming the rise in childhood obesity, researchers are increasingly targeting increased physical activity (PA) in very young children (i.e., 3-5 y). Interventions aimed at this age group are few but growing in number and have typically focused on evaluating changes in equipment, staff development, programs, and policies. ...
Background The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation suggests that what happens inside the classroom to help prepare children for success is of equal importance to what happens outside on the playground. Children between 1st and 6th grade, on average, spend more time per week in recess than PE or after school ...
The influence of the family and home environment on childhood physical activity (PA) and whether this differs between ethnic groups remains uncertain. This paper investigates associations between family and home factors and childhood PA in a multi-ethnic population and explores whether associations differ between ethnic groups. Methods Cross-sectional study of 9...
Purpose To determine the reliability and validity of physical activity monitors and self-report instruments suitable for young African-American girls. Methods A validation study was conducted by the Girls health Enrichment Multi-site Studies (GEMS) research team to compare an accelerometer with a pedometer and two self-report instruments for assessing physical activity ...
Objective This study was designed to validate accelerometer-based activity monitors against energy expenditure (EE) in children; to compare monitor placement sites; to field-test the monitors; and to establish sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous threshold counts. Research Methods and Procedures Computer Science and Applications Actigraph (CSA) and Mini-Mitter Actiwatch (MM) monitors, ...
Childhood obesity has been attributed to a decline in total energy expenditure (TEE). We measured TEE, physical activity, and sedentary behaviour in a representative sample of young children from Glasgow, UK, at age 3 years (n=78), and we did a follow-up study at age 5 years (n=72). Mean physical activity level (TEE/...
The purpose of the present study was to systematically review published evidence on the reproducibility, validity, and feasibility of motion sensors used to assess physical activity in healthy children and adolescents (2-18 yr). Method A systematic literature search was performed in October 2004 in PubMed, Embase, and SpycINFO. The clinimetric quality ...
This study examined whether there was a significant seasonal variation in objectively measured habitual physical activity and sedentary behavior in young children. Participants were 209 children who attend nursery in Glasgow, Scotland, and measurements were taken using uniaxial accelerometry over 3 to 6 days. There were small but significant seasonal associations with physical ...