Physical activity patterns by objective measurements in preschoolers from China

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the study population.

Characteristics	Total (n = 1031)	Physical activity group (n = 134)
Age (years)	4.8 ± 1.1	5.4 ± 0.9
Boys	580 (56.3)	76 (56.7)
Body Mass Index	15.2 (14.4; 16.3)	15.2 (14.5; 16.3)
Obesity & overweight^a	125 (12.2)	16 (11.9)
Normal weight & underweight	901 (87.8)	118 (88.1)
Ethnicity
Han	969 (94.0)	127 (94.8)
Non-Han	62 (6.0)	7 (5.2)
Maternal education
Low/middle	144 (14.3)	25 (19.1)
High	862 (85.7)	106 (80.9)
Sedentary time (min/day)	-	468.7 ± 80.5
Light physical activity (min/day)	-	249.6 ± 44.1
Moderate physical activity (min/day)	-	38.0 ± 12.7
Vigorous physical activity (min/day)	-	12.5 ± 5.4
Moderate and vigorous physical activity (min/day)	-	50.5 ± 17.1
Adherence to physical activity recommendation^b	-	37 (27.6)

Data were presented as rates in N, and percentages as means with standard deviations, or, if data were skewed, as the median, along with the 25th to 75th percentile.

^aOverweight based on Z-scores Cole.

^bModerate and vigorous physical activity, 60 min/day (with some measurement days exceeding the recommendation and some days not).

Figure 1. Flowchart of the participants from the PATH-CC study in this analysis.

Table 2. Characteristics of MVPA bouts of the study population.

Bouts frequency (n/day)	Medium-to-long bout (IQR)	Short bout (IQR)	Sporadic sessions (IQR)
Physical activity group (n = 134)	0.2 (0.0, 0.5)	0.9 (0.3, 1.6)	9.8 (7.2, 14.1)
During schooldays (n = 134)	0.2 (0.0, 0.5)	0.8 (0.3, 1.5)	9.5 (6.6, 12.9)
During weekend/holidays (n = 107)	0.0 (0.0, 0.5)	1.0 (0.0, 2.3)	12.0 (7.5, 17.0)^a
Overweight children (n = 16)	0.3 (0.0, 0.4)	0.6 (0.2, 1.4)	9.2 (4.9, 14.7)
Non-overweight children (n = 118)	0.2 (0.0, 0.5)	0.9 (0.3, 1.6)	9.9 (7.3, 14.1)
Active children (n = 44)	0.5 (0.2, 0.9)^b	1.8 (1.0, 2.5)^b	15.4 (13.2, 17.5)^b
Less active children (n = 44)	0.0 (0.0, 0.2)	0.3 (0.1, 0.8)	6.5 (4.1, 7.7)

Data for bouts frequency of MVPA are presented as the median in number/day, along with the 25th and 75th percentiles.

^ap < 0.05; derived from Mann-Whitney U test assessing whether differences of bouts frequency between schooldays and weekend/holidays.

^bp < 0.05; derived from Mann-Whitney U test assessing whether differences of bouts frequency between active children and less active children.

Figure 2. Daily physical activity patterns per time segment.

Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), and sedentary time (ST) are given per time segment with the median, the 25th and 75th percentile, and minimum and maximum. All time segments differed significantly (p < 0.05).

Figure 3. Daily physical activity patterns for school days and holidays.

Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), and sedentary time (ST) are given per time segment for school days and weekends/holidays, with the mean per behavior and per group. Only the evening (18:00–21:00) showed no significant differences for ST, LPA, and MVPA between school days and weekends/holidays (p > 0.05). P-values are based on linear mixed models and adjusted for sex, age, and season. Statistical testing for MVPA was performed using Ln-transformed MVPA.

Figure 4. Daily physical activity patterns for active children and less active children.

Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), and sedentary time (ST) are given per time segment for active children and less active children, with the mean per behavior and per group. Only the segments of lunch (11:00–12:00) and late afternoon (17:00–18:00) for LPA, and the segment of late afternoon for ST showed no significant differences between active children and less active children (p > 0.05). P-values are based on linear mixed models and adjusted for sex, age, and season. Statistical testing for MVPA was performed using Ln-transformed MVPA.

Figure 5. Daily physical activity patterns for overweight and non-overweight children.

Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity (LPA), and sedentary time (ST) are given per time segment for overweight and non-overweight children, with the mean per behavior and per group. Only the segments of morning (8:00–11:00) and lunch (11:00–12:00) for LPA and ST, and the segment of late afternoon (17:00–18:00) for MVPA, LPA, and ST showed significant differences between overweight and non-overweight children (p < 0.05). P-values are based on linear mixed models and adjusted for sex, age, and season. Statistical testing for MVPA was performed using Ln-transformed MVPA.