Seasonal and daily variation in physical activity among three-year-old Finnish preschool children |
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| Authors: | Anne Soini Tuija Tammelin Arja Sääkslahti Anthony Watt Jari Villberg Tarja Kettunen |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyv?skyl?, Jyv?skyl?, Finlandanne.soini@jyu.fi;3. LIKES Research Center for Sport and Health Sciences, Jyv?skyl?, Finland;4. Department of Sport Sciences, University of Jyv?skyl?, Jyv?skyl?, Finland;5. School of Education, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia;6. Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyv?skyl?, Jyv?skyl?, Finland |
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| Abstract: | The purposes of this study were to assess seasonal, daily, and gender variations in children's physical activity (PA). ActiGraph GT3X accelerometers were used to record the three-year-old children's PA levels for five consecutive days in autumn and winter. Complete data for both seasons were obtained for 47 children. Despite a significant difference in seasonal temperatures (p?p?=?.021). No difference in PA was observed between weekdays and weekend days. Only 20% of the sample had ≥120 minutes light-to-vigorous PA (LMVPA), and 46% of children had ≥60 minutes moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA). Boys spent more minutes in LMVPA (p?=?.001) and MVPA (p?=?.004) than girls. The current findings indicated that season and day of the week only minimally influence children's PA levels, whereas gender continues to be a significant factor. |
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| Keywords: | accelerometer childcare early childhood physical activity |
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