Kim Meredith-Jones1, Jillian Haszard2, Chris Moir3, Anne-Louise Heath2, Julie Lawrence4, Barbara Galland4, Barry Taylor5, Andrew Gray6, Rachel Sayers4, Rachael Taylor7. 1. Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. kim.meredith-jones@otago.ac.nz. 2. Department of Nutrition, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 3. Centre for Postgraduate Nursing Studies, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. 4. Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 5. Department of the Dean, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 6. Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 7. Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Abstract
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: Early childhood is characterised by rapid development and is a critical period for the establishment of activity behaviours. We aim to examine how physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) track during the first 5 years of life, and to investigate associations between trajectories and body composition at 5 years of age. SUBJECTS/ METHODS: A total of 438 participants (50% male) wore an Actical accelerometer for 5 days at at least two of 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 years of age. Spearman correlation coefficients examined PA tracking from age 1 to 5 and trajectories of PA and SB were estimated using discrete mixture modelling. Regression models tested associations between both PA and SB trajectories and body composition measures. RESULTS: Tracking coefficients for PA ranged from r = 0.31-0.51 across the ages, with similar tracking observed for sedentary behaviour (r = 0.21-0.39). Four distinct trajectory patterns were identified separately for PA and SB: consistently low, consistently high, increasing and decreasing. BMI and waist circumference were not significantly associated with PA trajectories, but those in the consistently high activity group had significantly lower % body fat (95% CI) at age 5 (14.3%; 13.5, 15.2) than those in the consistently low (16.8%; 15.6, 18.2) or increasing (15.7%; 14.7, 16.7) groups (P = 0.017). Sedentary behaviour trajectories were not associated with any of the anthropometric measures at age 5 (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity and sedentary behaviour tracking is broadly similar from infancy to early childhood. Children with consistently higher levels of physical activity have reduced body fat at 5 years of age, although differences are relatively small.
BACKGROUND/ OBJECTIVES: Early childhood is characterised by rapid development and is a critical period for the establishment of activity behaviours. We aim to examine how physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour (SB) track during the first 5 years of life, and to investigate associations between trajectories and body composition at 5 years of age. SUBJECTS/ METHODS: A total of 438 participants (50% male) wore an Actical accelerometer for 5 days at at least two of 1, 2, 3.5 and 5 years of age. Spearman correlation coefficients examined PA tracking from age 1 to 5 and trajectories of PA and SB were estimated using discrete mixture modelling. Regression models tested associations between both PA and SB trajectories and body composition measures. RESULTS: Tracking coefficients for PA ranged from r = 0.31-0.51 across the ages, with similar tracking observed for sedentary behaviour (r = 0.21-0.39). Four distinct trajectory patterns were identified separately for PA and SB: consistently low, consistently high, increasing and decreasing. BMI and waist circumference were not significantly associated with PA trajectories, but those in the consistently high activity group had significantly lower % body fat (95% CI) at age 5 (14.3%; 13.5, 15.2) than those in the consistently low (16.8%; 15.6, 18.2) or increasing (15.7%; 14.7, 16.7) groups (P = 0.017). Sedentary behaviour trajectories were not associated with any of the anthropometric measures at age 5 (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity and sedentary behaviour tracking is broadly similar from infancy to early childhood. Children with consistently higher levels of physical activity have reduced body fat at 5 years of age, although differences are relatively small.
Authors: Rachael W Taylor; Jillian J Haszard; Kim A Meredith-Jones; Barbara C Galland; Anne-Louise M Heath; Julie Lawrence; Andrew R Gray; Rachel Sayers; Maha Hanna; Barry J Taylor Journal: Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act Date: 2018-11-26 Impact factor: 6.457
Authors: Borja Del Pozo-Cruz; Francisco Perales; Phil Parker; Chris Lonsdale; Michael Noetel; Kylie D Hesketh; Taren Sanders Journal: Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act Date: 2019-07-08 Impact factor: 6.457