Sep
The physical activity levels of children in the United Kingdom havebeen enormously overestimated, according to an article released onSeptember 9, 2008 in the Archives of Disease in Childhood,one of the BMJ Specialty journals.
UK public health policy and practice is generally informed by annualhealth survey data. However, according to the authors of this article,this survey has not yet been validated. These figures have previouslyindicated that the population was generally very physically active, andthat physical activity in children has increased over the past severalyears. One point of the survey, that could lead to errors, is that theinformation about children relies heavily on parent-supplied reporting.
In maintaining proper health and preventing obesity and other illnesseslater in life, it is recommended that children engage in at least onehour of moderate to vigorous exercise every day. Such physicalactivities might include brisk walking, running, or sports.
To examine the survey’s accuracy and reliability, researchers examined130 children between the ages of 6 and 7 over the course of one week.The actual levels of physical activity were assessed using a portablemonitoring and recording device (an accelerometer) which each carriedon a waist belt. These readings were compared with information suppliedby parents using the annual Health Survey for England.
Parents reported that their children were moderately vigorouslyphysically active for about 146 minutes a day. The accelerometerreadings, however, indicated that this figure was 24 minutes per day.Boys generally had 26 minutes and girls had 22 minutes. According tothe survey reports, 83% of boys and 56% of girls achieved therecommended daily levels of moderate to vigorous exercise. However,according to the accelerometer, showed only 3% of boys and 3% of girlsactually achieved this level.
According to the authors, the accelerometer results are in line withother studies of the population which also indicate an increase in therate of car rides children take and an increase in overweight andobesity levels. They say: “Marked improvements in surveillance ofphysical activity will be necessary in order to meet the major publichealth challenges of the 21 st century, particularly where physicalactivity has been implicated in the aetiology of diseases, such asobesity and related disorders,” they comment.
Surveillance of physical activity in the UK is flawed:validationof the Health Survey for England Physical Activity Questionnaire
OnlineFirst Arch Dis Child 2008
doi 10.1136/adc.2007.135905
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Written by Anna Sophia McKenney
Copyright: Medical News Today