Time-segmented Physical Activity Patterns of Brazilian Adolescents: Within- and Between-day Variability

ABSTRACT

This study examined the within- and between-day variability of time-segmented sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA), and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in adolescents. The sample comprised 154 adolescents (11–16 years old) from two public schools in Florianópolis, Brazil. The proportion of time spent in SB, LPA, and MVPA was measured using Actigraph GT3X+ accelerometers for the following weekday time segments: before school (07:00–07:59), school time (08:00–11:59), after school (12:00–12:59), afternoons (13:00–17:59), and evenings (18:00–23:00). Participants were more active during commuting-related time segments. Females showed lower MVPA than males during school time, afternoons, and evenings, but not before school and after school. Higher age was associated with higher SB and lower LPA during school time, afternoons, and evenings, and slightly lower MVPA during afternoons. The variability of SB, LPA, and MVPA for all time segments was mainly explained by within-participant day-to-day variations rather than between-participant differences of daily-averaged estimates.

KEYWORDS:

• Motor activity
• Accelerometry
• adolescent behavior
• public health

Acknowledgments

The Movimente program was registered in the Clinical Trials Platform (NCT02944318) and was funded by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq/Edital Universal 14/2014, N° Process: 446227/2014-5). MVVL, BGGC, and LEAM were supported by grants from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel –CAPES (Finance Code 001).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The participants individual data are not publicly available as the original approval by the ethics Committee of research with human beings of the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (protocol 1.259.910), and the informed consent from the participants and their respective legal guardians stated the individual information will not be shared.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/1091367X.2022.2102924

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the CAPES [001]; CNPQ [446227/2014-5].