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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal patterns of preschoolers' physical activity (PA) levels during a typical outdoor free playtime.
METHODS: Baseline playtime accelerometer counts (4.3±0.8 days) from three preschool PA intervention studies were utilized (n=326 children, age=4.0±0.8 years). Data were collected using 15-second epochs and classified into sedentary, light or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Patterns of change during playtime were analyzed using orthogonal polynomial comparisons.
RESULTS: For all ages, there was a U-shaped pattern of change for the percent of epochs classified as sedentary (F (1,323)=47.12, p<0.001) and an inverted U-shaped pattern of change for the percent of epochs classified as MVPA (F (1,323)=32.15, p<0.001). Age-stratified analyses indicated that the three-year olds maintained the decrease in sedentary time (F (2,323)=6.408, p=0.002) and the increase in MVPA (F (2,323)=3.2, p=0.04) to a greater extent than the four- and five-year olds.
CONCLUSIONS: Preschool children gradually became more active during the first 10-15 minutes of outdoor gross motor playtime and less active over the final 10-15 minutes of playtime. During the second half of playtime three-year olds maintained these changes to a greater degree than four- and five-year olds.
Language: en |