Associations between objectively assessed physical activity and indicators of body fatness in 9- to 10-y-old European children: a population-based study from 4 distinct regions in Europe (the European Youth Heart Study).

BACKGROUND

The rising prevalence of obesity in children may be due to a reduction in physical activity (PA).

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to study the associations of objectively measured PA volume and its subcomponents with indicators of body fatness.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study of 1292 children aged 9-10 y from 4 distinct regions in Europe (Odense, Denmark; the island of Madeira, Portugal; Oslo; and Tartu, Estonia) was conducted. PA was measured by accelerometry, and indicators of body fatness were the sum of 5 skinfold thicknesses and body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)). We examined the associations between PA and body fatness by using general linear models adjusted for potential confounding variables.

RESULTS

After adjustment for sex, study location, sexual maturity, birth weight, and parental BMI, time (min/d) spent at moderate and vigorous PA (P = 0.032) and time (min/d) spent at vigorous PA were significantly (P = 0.015) and independently associated with body fatness. Sex, study location, sexual maturity, birth weight, and parental BMI explained 29% (adjusted R(2) = 0.29) of the variation in body fatness. Time spent at vigorous PA explained an additional 0.5%. Children who accumulated <1 h of moderate PA/d were significantly fatter than were those who accumulated >2 h/d.

CONCLUSIONS

The accumulated amount of time spent at moderate and vigorous PA is related to body fatness in children, but this relation is weak; the explained variance was <1%.