9 research outputs found
Stakeholder perceptions of physical literacy:results from a national consultation in England
Get PDFBackground: There is a lack of evidence of stakeholder perspective and understanding of physical literacy among relevant stakeholders from England. As part of research commissioned by Sport England to develop a physical literacy consensus statement for England, this study presents findings from the first national consultation with stakeholders in England.Methods: One hundred and ninety-three individual stakeholders (50.3%) from education, community sport, national governing bodies of sport, physical activity and sport coaching sectors completed an online survey consisting of fixed item and open ended questions designed to examine their knowledge, understanding, perceptions and practices relating to physical literacy. Results: Responses from stakeholders suggested there was confusion in use of the term physical literacy in practice and confusion regarding the definition of physical literacy. Most respondents suggested they were involved in physical literacy related activity and understood the term. However, when probed the physical literacy related activity they referred to was likely not actually physical literacy related. Understanding of the term physical literacy was inconsistent in general. Stakeholders considered the affective, social, physical and cognitive areas (domains) of learning to be most important for developing a positive relationship with movement, sport and physical activity for life. Conclusions: While stakeholders are aware of the term “physical literacy” and hold value of it within their practice, there remain key misconceptions relating to what physical literacy is, and debate as to whether any existing definitions truly capture the construct of physical literacy
Reference values for wrist-worn accelerometer physical activity metrics in England children and adolescents
Get PDF© The Author(s) 2023.Background: Over the last decade use of raw acceleration metrics to assess physical activity has increased. Metrics such as Euclidean Norm Minus One (ENMO), and Mean Amplitude Deviation (MAD) can be used to generate metrics which describe physical activity volume (average acceleration), intensity distribution (intensity gradient), and intensity of the most active periods (MX metrics) of the day. Presently, relatively little comparative data for these metrics exists in youth. To address this need, this study presents age- and sex-specific reference percentile values in England youth and compares physical activity volume and intensity profiles by age and sex. Methods: Wrist-worn accelerometer data from 10 studies involving youth aged 5 to 15 y were pooled. Weekday and weekend waking hours were first calculated for youth in school Years (Y) 1&2, Y4&5, Y6&7, and Y8&9 to determine waking hours durations by age-groups and day types. A valid waking hours day was defined as accelerometer wear for ≥ 600 min·d−1 and participants with ≥ 3 valid weekdays and ≥ 1 valid weekend day were included. Mean ENMO- and MAD-generated average acceleration, intensity gradient, and MX metrics were calculated and summarised as weighted week averages. Sex-specific smoothed percentile curves were generated for each metric using Generalized Additive Models for Location Scale and Shape. Linear mixed models examined age and sex differences. Results: The analytical sample included 1250 participants. Physical activity peaked between ages 6.5–10.5 y, depending on metric. For all metrics the highest activity levels occurred in less active participants (3rd-50th percentile) and girls, 0.5 to 1.5 y earlier than more active peers, and boys, respectively. Irrespective of metric, boys were more active than girls (p < .001) and physical activity was lowest in the Y8&9 group, particularly when compared to the Y1&2 group (p < .001). Conclusions: Percentile reference values for average acceleration, intensity gradient, and MX metrics have utility in describing age- and sex-specific values for physical activity volume and intensity in youth. There is a need to generate nationally-representative wrist-acceleration population-referenced norms for these metrics to further facilitate health-related physical activity research and promotion.Funding for selected contributing studies was provided by the Waterloo Foundation (#1669/3509), West Lancashire Sport Partnership, West Lancashire Leisure Trust, Edge Hill University, and Wigan Council. Alex Rowlands is supported by the Lifestyle Theme of the Leicester NHR Leicester Biomedical Research Centre and NIHR Applied Research Collaborations East Midlands (ARC-EM)
Reference values for wrist-worn accelerometer physical activity metrics in England children and adolescents
Get PDFBackground: Over the last decade use of raw acceleration metrics to assess physical activity has increased. Metrics such as Euclidean Norm Minus One (ENMO), and Mean Amplitude Deviation (MAD) can be used to generate metrics which describe physical activity volume (average acceleration), intensity distribution (intensity gradient), and intensity of the most active periods (MX metrics) of the day. Presently, relatively little comparative data for these metrics exists in youth. To address this need, this study presents age- and sex-specific reference percentile values in England youth and compares physical activity volume and intensity profiles by age and sex. Methods: Wrist-worn accelerometer data from 10 studies involving youth aged 5 to 15 y were pooled. Weekday and weekend waking hours were first calculated for youth in school Years (Y) 1&2, Y4&5, Y6&7, and Y8&9 to determine waking hours durations by age-groups and day types. A valid waking hours day was defined as accelerometer wear for ≥ 600 min·d−1 and participants with ≥ 3 valid weekdays and ≥ 1 valid weekend day were included. Mean ENMO- and MAD-generated average acceleration, intensity gradient, and MX metrics were calculated and summarised as weighted week averages. Sex-specific smoothed percentile curves were generated for each metric using Generalized Additive Models for Location Scale and Shape. Linear mixed models examined age and sex differences. Results: The analytical sample included 1250 participants. Physical activity peaked between ages 6.5–10.5 y, depending on metric. For all metrics the highest activity levels occurred in less active participants (3rd-50th percentile) and girls, 0.5 to 1.5 y earlier than more active peers, and boys, respectively. Irrespective of metric, boys were more active than girls (p < .001) and physical activity was lowest in the Y8&9 group, particularly when compared to the Y1&2 group (p < .001). Conclusions: Percentile reference values for average acceleration, intensity gradient, and MX metrics have utility in describing age- and sex-specific values for physical activity volume and intensity in youth. There is a need to generate nationally-representative wrist-acceleration population-referenced norms for these metrics to further facilitate health-related physical activity research and promotion
Back to school after lockdown: The effect of COVID-19 restrictions on children's device-based physical activity metrics
No full textObjective: The Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and national lockdowns took away opportunities for children to be physically active. This study aimed to determine the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on accelerometer-assessed physical activity (PA) in children in Wales. Methods: 800 participants (8 – 18-year-olds), stratified by sex, age and socio-economic status, wore Axivity AX3 accelerometers for seven days in February 2021 during the lockdown, and in May 2021 whilst in school. Raw accelerometer data were processed in R-package GGIR, and cut-point data, average acceleration (AvAcc), intensity gradient (IG) and MX metrics were extracted. Linear mixed models were used to assess the influence of time-point, sex, age and SES, on PA. Results: During lockdown, moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) was 38.4 ± 24.3 min·day-1; sedentary time (ST) was 849.4 ± 196.6 min·day-1. PA levels increased significantly upon return to school (all variables p < 0.001). While there were no sex differences during lockdown (p = 0.233), girls engaged in significantly less MVPA than boys once back in school (p < 0.001). Furthermore, boys had more favourable intensity profiles than girls (IG: p < 0.001), regardless of time-point. PA levels decreased with age at both time-points; upper secondary school (USS) girls were the least active group, with an average M30 of 195.2 mg (whilst in school). Conclusion: The lockdown affected boys more than girls as reflected by the disappearance of the typical sex difference in PA levels during lockdown, although they were re-established on return to school. USS (especially girls) might need specific COVID-recovery intervention
Back to school after lockdown: The effect of COVID-19 restrictions on children's device-based physical activity metrics
No full textDevelopment of raw acceleration cut-points for wrist and hip accelerometers to assess sedentary behaviour and physical activity in 5–7-year-old children
Full text linkA Novel Mixed Methods Approach to Assess Children’s Sedentary Behaviors
Full text linkPurpose: Accurately measuring sedentary behavior (SB) in children is challenging by virtue of its complex nature. While self-report questionnaires are susceptible to recall errors, accelerometer data lacks contextual information. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of using accelerometry combined with the Digitising Children’s Data Collection (DCDC) for Health application (app), to capture SB comprehensively. Methods: 74 children (9–10 years old) wore ActiGraph GT9X accelerometers for 7 days. Each received a SAMSUNG Galaxy Tab4 (SM-T230) tablet, with the DCDC app installed and a specially designed sedentary behavior study downloaded. The app uses four data collection tools: 1) Questionnaire, 2) Take a photograph, 3) Draw a picture, and 4) Record my voice. Children self-reported their SB daily. Accelerometer data were analyzed using R-package GGIR. App data were downloaded and individual participant profiles created. SBs reported were grouped into categories and reported as frequencies. Results: Participants spent, on average, 629 min (i.e., 73% of their waking time) sedentary. App data revealed most of their out-of-school SB consisted of screen time (112 photos, 114 drawings, and screen time mentioned 135 times during voice recordings). Playing with toys, reading, arts and crafts, and homework were also reported across all four data capturing tools on the app. On an individual level, data from the app often explained irregular patterns in physical activity and SB observed in accelerometer data. Conclusion: This mixed methods approach to assessing SB adds context to accelerometer data, providing researchers with information needed for intervention design.</jats:p
Validating the Sedentary Sphere method in children: Does wrist or accelerometer brand matter?
Full text linkThe Physical Behaviour Intensity Spectrum and Body Mass Index in School-Aged Youth: A Compositional Analysis of Pooled Individual Participant Data
Get PDFWe examined the compositional associations between the intensity spectrum derived from incremental acceleration intensity bands and the body mass index (BMI) z-score in youth, and investigated the estimated differences in BMI z-score following time reallocations between intensity bands. School-aged youth from 63 schools wore wrist accelerometers, and data of 1453 participants (57.5% girls) were analysed. Nine acceleration intensity bands (range: 0–50 mg to ≥700 mg) were used to generate time-use compositions. Multivariate regression assessed the associations between intensity band compositions and BMI z-scores. Compositional isotemporal substitution estimated the differences in BMI z-score following time reallocations between intensity bands. The ≥700 mg intensity bandwas strongly and inversely associated with BMI z-score (p < 0.001). The estimated differences in BMI z-score when 5 min were reallocated to and from the ≥700 mg band and reallocated equally among the remaining bands were −0.28 and 0.44, respectively (boys), and −0.39 and 1.06, respectively (girls). The time in the ≥700 mg intensity band was significantly associated with BMI z-score, irrespective of sex. When even modest durations of time in this band were reallocated, the asymmetrical estimated differences in BMI z-score were clinically meaningful. The findings highlight the utility of the full physical activity intensity spectrum over a priori-determined absolute intensity cut-point approaches.</jats:p
