A1 Journal article (refereed)
Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity Levels and Patterns Vary in an Age- and Sex-Dependent Fashion among Finnish Children and Adolescents (2022)

Jussila, A.-M., Husu, P., Vähä-Ypyä, H., Tokola, K., Kokko, S., Sievänen, H., & Vasankari, T. (2022). Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity Levels and Patterns Vary in an Age- and Sex-Dependent Fashion among Finnish Children and Adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(11), Article 6950. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116950

The research was funded by Strategic Research Council at the Research Council of Finland.

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Jussila, Anne-Mari; Husu, Pauliina; Vähä-Ypyä, Henri; Tokola, Kari; Kokko, Sami; Sievänen, Harri; Vasankari, Tommi

Journal or series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

ISSN: 1661-7827

eISSN: 1660-4601

Publication year: 2022

Publication date: 06/06/2022

Volume: 19

Issue number: 11

Article number: 6950

Publisher: MDPI AG

Publication country: Switzerland

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19116950

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/82600

Publication is parallel published: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9180141/

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to measure physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB), and hour-by-hour PA patterns with an accelerometer in a population-based sample of Finnish children and adolescents. Methods: A total of 3274 participants (3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th graders) from 176 schools wore a hip-worn triaxial accelerometer for seven days during waking hours. Mean amplitude deviation of the acceleration data was used to assess PA intensity that was converted to metabolic equivalents and categorized into light, moderate, and vigorous PA. Angle for posture estimation was used to measure SB and standing. Results: The majority of participants’ PA consisted of light PA, and they were sedentary for more than half of their waking hours. Children were more active than adolescents, and boys were more active than girls. Participants took, on average, 9890 steps daily, and one third met the PA recommendation. The participants were divided into tertiles based on daily steps to investigate the variation in PA patterns. Compared to the least active tertile, the most active tertile took twice as many steps on weekdays and nearly three times as many steps on the weekend. Conclusions: The majority of the participants were not active enough, and there was a great variation in PA levels and patterns, especially among the adolescents and on weekends.

Keywords: children (age groups); young people; physical activity; pedometers

Free keywords: physical activity; sedentary behavior; daily steps; moderate intensity; light intensity

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

JUFO rating: 1