Skip to main content

Accelerometry-assessed sedentary behaviour and physical activity levels during the segmented school day in 10–14-year-old children: the HAPPY study

European Journal of Pediatrics volume 171, pages 1805–1813 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

The school day offers several different time periods that provide varying opportunities for sedentary time (SED) and engagement in physical activity (PA), yet little is known about the PA and sedentary behaviour patterns of boys and girls during these times. The volume, intensity and temporal distributions of SED and PA undertaken by 135 schoolchildren aged 10–14 years, during different segments of the school day: (a) school transport, (b) morning recess, (c) lunch break, (d) class time and (e) after school, were explored using triaxial accelerometry. PA was categorised into SED, light PA (LPA), moderate PA (MPA) and vigorous PA (VPA). Girls engaged in significantly more SED and LPA than boys during recess and lunch break (p < 0.05), while boys engaged in significantly higher levels of VPA during recess (p < 0.001) and MPA and VPA during lunch break (p < 0.001). PA engagement was similar between sexes during other segments of the day. Conclusion: PA patterns appear more beneficial for health in boys during less structured school-based time periods and interventions may therefore target opportunities for girls to be physically active during these times to overcome this observed sex deficit.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

43,34 €

Price includes VAT (Finland)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1

References

  1. Adamo KB, Prince SA, Tricco AC, Connor-Gorber S, Tremblay M (2009) A comparison of indirect versus direct measures for assessing physical activity in the pediatric population: a systematic review. Int J Pediatr Obes 4(1):2–27

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Andersen LB, Sardinha LB, Froberg K, Riddoch CJ, Page AS, Anderssen SA (2008) Fitness, fatness and clustering of cardiovascular risk factors in children from Denmark, Estonia and Portugal: the European Youth Heart Study. Int J Pediatr Obes 3(Suppl 1):58–66

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bailey DP, Boddy LM, Savory LA, Denton SJ, Kerr CJ (2012) Associations between cardiorespiratory fitness, physical activity and clustered cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents: the HAPPY study. Eur J Pediatr 171(9):1317–1323

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Beighle A, Morgan CF, Le Masurier G, Pangrazi RP (2006) Children’s physical activity during recess and outside of school. J Sch Health 76(10):516–520

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Butte NF, Puyau MR, Adolph AL, Vohra FA, Zakeri I (2007) Physical activity in nonoverweight and overweight Hispanic children and adolescents. Med Sci Sports Exerc 39(8):1257–1266

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1997) Guidelines for school and community programs to promote lifelong physical activity among young people. Morb Mort Wkly Rep 46(RR-6):1–36

    Google Scholar 

  7. Chen LJ, Fox KR, Haase A, Wang JM (2006) Obesity, fitness and health in Taiwanese children and adolescents. Eur J Clin Nutr 60(12):1367–1375

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Child and Maternal Health Observatory (2009) Available at: http://atlas.chimat.org.uk/IAS/dataviews/view?viewId=11. Accessed 7 Jan 2012

  9. Cohen J (1988) Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences, 2nd edn. Erlbaum, Hillsdale

    Google Scholar 

  10. Danner FW (2008) A national longitudinal study of the association between hours of TV viewing and the trajectory of BMI growth among US children. J Pediatr Psychol 33(10):1100–1107

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Deforche B, De Bourdeaudhuij I, D’Hondt E, Cardon G (2009) Objectively measured physical activity, physical activity related personality and body mass index in 6- to 10-yr-old children: a cross-sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 6:25

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Department of Health. Health Survey for England (2008) Physical activity and fitness. http://www.ic.nhs.uk/webfiles/publications/HSE/HSE08/Volume_1_Physical_activity_and_fitness_revised.pdf. Accessed 18 April 2011

  13. Department of Health (2011) Start Active, Stay Active: a report on physical activity for health from the four home countries’ Chief Medical Officers. http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_128210.pdf. Accessed 7 July 2011

  14. Ekelund U, Anderssen SA, Froberg K, Sardinha LB, Andersen LB, Brage S (2007) Independent associations of physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness with metabolic risk factors in children: the European Youth Heart Study. Diabetologia 50(9):1832–1840

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Ekelund U, Tomkinson G, Armstrong N (2011) What proportion of youth are physically active? Measurement issues, levels and recent time trends. Br J Sports Med 45(11):859–865

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Eston RG, Rowlands AV, Ingledew DK (1998) Validity of heart rate, pedometry, and accelerometry for predicting the energy cost of children’s activities. J Appl Physiol 84(1):362–371

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Fairclough S, Stratton G (2005) Physical education makes you fit and healthy. Physical education’s contribution to young people’s physical activity levels. Health Educ Res 20(1):14–23

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Fairclough SJ, Boddy LM, Hackett AF, Stratton G (2009) Associations between children’s socioeconomic status, weight status, and sex, with screen-based sedentary behaviours and sport participation. Int J Pediatr Obes 4(4):299–305

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gidlow CJ, Cochrane T, Davey R, Smith H (2008) In-school and out-of-school physical activity in primary and secondary school children. J Sports Sci 26(13):1411–1419

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Gordon-Larsen P, McMurray RG, Popkin BM (1999) Adolescent physical activity and inactivity vary by ethnicity: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. J Pediatr 135(3):301–306

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Gutin B, Yin Z, Humphries MC, Barbeau P (2005) Relations of moderate and vigorous physical activity to fitness and fatness in adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr 81(4):746–750

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Harrington DM, Dowd KP, Bourke AK, Donnelly AE (2011) Cross-sectional analysis of levels and patterns of objectively measured sedentary time in adolescent females. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 8:120

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Hohepa M, Scragg R, Schofield G, Kolt GS, Schaaf D (2009) Self-reported physical activity levels during a segmented school day in a large multiethnic sample of high school students. J Sci Med Sport 12(2):284–292

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  24. LeMura LM, Andreacci J, Carlonas R, Klebez JM, Chelland S (2000) Evaluation of physical activity measured via accelerometry in rural fourth-grade children. Percept Mot Skills 90(1):329–337

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Mattocks C, Ness A, Leary S, Tilling K, Blair SN, Shield J et al (2008) Use of accelerometers in a large field-based study of children: protocols, design issues, and effects on precision. J Phys Act Health 5(Suppl 1):S98–S111

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. MIMAS (2008) Welcome to GeoConvert. Available at: http://geoconvert.mimas.ac.uk/. Accessed 30 April 2011

  27. Morrison JA, Friedman LA, Wang P, Glueck CJ (2008) Metabolic syndrome in childhood predicts adult metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus 25 to 30 years later. J Pediatr 152(2):201–206

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Nader PR (2003) Frequency and intensity of activity of third-grade children in physical education. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 157(2):185–190

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Nettlefold L, McKay HA, Warburton DE, McGuire KA, Bredin SS, Naylor PJ (2011) The challenge of low physical activity during the school day: at recess, lunch and in physical education. Br J Sports Med 45(10):813–819

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Lamb MM, Flegal KM (2010) Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007–2008. Jama 303(3):242–249

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Riddoch C, Edwards D, Page A, Froberg K, Anderssen SA, Wedderkopp N et al (2005) The European Youth Heart Study—cardiovascular disease risk factors in children: rationale, aims, study design, and validation of methods. J Phys Act Health 2(1):115–129

    Google Scholar 

  32. Riddoch CJ, Bo Andersen L, Wedderkopp N, Harro M, Klasson-Heggebo L, Sardinha LB et al (2004) Physical activity levels and patterns of 9- and 15-yr-old European children. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36(1):86–92

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Ridgers ND, Fairclough SJ (2011) Assessing free-living physical activity using accelerometry: Practical issues for researchers and practitioners. Eur J Sport Sci 11(3):205–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Ridgers ND, Graves LE, Foweather L, Stratton G (2010) Examining influences on boy’s and girls’ physical activity patterns: the A-CLASS project. Pediatr Exerc Sci 22(4):638–650

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Ridgers ND, Stratton G, Fairclough SJ (2005) Assessing physical activity during recess using accelerometry. Prev Med 41(1):102–107

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Ridgers ND, Stratton G, Fairclough SJ, Twisk JW (2007) Children’s physical activity levels during school recess: a quasi-experimental intervention study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 4:19

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Rowlands AV, Thomas PW, Eston RG, Topping R (2004) Validation of the RT3 triaxial accelerometer for the assessment of physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36(3):518–524

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Ruiz JR, Ortega FB, Rizzo NS, Villa I, Hurtig-Wennlof A, Oja L et al (2007) High cardiovascular fitness is associated with low metabolic risk score in children: the European Youth Heart Study. Pediatr Res 61(3):350–355

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Stamatakis E, Wardle J, Cole TJ (2010) Childhood obesity and overweight prevalence trends in England: evidence for growing socioeconomic disparities. Int J Obes (Lond) 34(1):41–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. Steele RM, van Sluijs EM, Cassidy A, Griffin SJ, Ekelund U (2009) Targeting sedentary time or moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity: independent relations with adiposity in a population-based sample of 10-y-old British children. Am J Clin Nutr 90(5):1185–1192

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Steele RM, van Sluijs EM, Sharp SJ, Landsbaugh JR, Ekelund U, Griffin SJ (2010) An investigation of patterns of children’s sedentary and vigorous physical activity throughout the week. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 7:88

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Stratton G (2000) Promoting children’s physical activity in primary school: an intervention study using playground markings. Ergonomics 43(10):1538–1546

    PubMed  Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Thompson AM, Baxter-Jones AD, Mirwald RL, Bailey DA (2003) Comparison of physical activity in male and female children: does maturation matter? Med Sci Sports Exerc 35(10):1684–1690

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Tudor-Locke C, Lee SM, Morgan CF, Beighle A, Pangrazi RP (2006) Children’s pedometer-determined physical activity during the segmented school day. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38(10):1732–1738

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Twisk JW, Kemper HC, van Mechelen W (2002) The relationship between physical fitness and physical activity during adolescence and cardiovascular disease risk factors at adult age. The Amsterdam Growth and Health Longitudinal Study. Int J Sports Med 23(Suppl 1):S8–S14

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Wang Y, Lobstein T (2006) Worldwide trends in childhood overweight and obesity. Int J Pediatr Obes 1(1):11–25

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants who gave their time to the study. We would also like to thank all of the schools who helped facilitate the research. This study was funded by the Bedford Charity.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Institute for Sport and Physical Activity Research, University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK41 9EA, UK

    Daniel P. Bailey, Louise A. Savory, Sarah J. Denton, Colleen S. Deane & Catherine J. Kerr

  2. Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK

    Stuart J. Fairclough

  3. Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire, Polhill Avenue, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK41 9EA, UK

    Dong Pang

Authors
  1. Daniel P. Bailey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stuart J. Fairclough
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Louise A. Savory
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sarah J. Denton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Dong Pang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Colleen S. Deane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Catherine J. Kerr
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel P. Bailey.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bailey, D.P., Fairclough, S.J., Savory, L.A. et al. Accelerometry-assessed sedentary behaviour and physical activity levels during the segmented school day in 10–14-year-old children: the HAPPY study. Eur J Pediatr 171, 1805–1813 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1827-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-012-1827-0

Keywords

  • Accelerometry
  • Adolescents
  • Children
  • Physical activity
  • Sedentary behaviour