The rapid increase in the percentage of overweight and obese children found in many countries is a cause of great concern. In Australia, recent research in New South Wales schools revealed 23.7 per cent of girls and 26.1 per cent of boys are obese or overweight.
Since regular physical activity plays an important role in the prevention of weight gain and obesity, it is of considerable concern that research now shows adolescents being less physically active as they age.
In light of this, researchers conducted a study to assess the physical activity (as evidenced by step counts) and body mass index (BMI) levels of children in Australian Sweden and the United States. The study set out to determine whether the activity patterns and BMI of children were different in different cultures.
The study involved 1954 children, aged 6-12 years old (995 girls, 959 boys). The children (711 American, 563 Australian, and 680 Swedish) wore sealed pedometers for four consecutive days. The pedometers measured the total number of steps taken each day. Height and weight measures were also obtained for BMI calculations.
The children put the pedometers on at the beginning of the school day and wore them until they went to bed. During the first hour of school, a researcher collected the pedometers, recorded the step counts, resealed, and returned them to the children within one hour, to begin the next measurement period. This procedure continued for all participants for four consecutive days (Monday through Thursday).
The participants were asked to maintain normal activity patterns during the study.
The researchers found that the Swedish children were significantly more active than the Australian and American children, and the American children were significantly heavier than the Australian and Swedish children.
The researchers believe that further research is needed to examine the activity patterns and BMI levels in adolescents aged 13-18 years, so that a clearer picture may emerge about what happens to youth as they grow older into adulthood.
References:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2006. Australia's health 2006. AIHW cat. No. AUS 73. AIHW, Canberra
Booth M, Okely AD, Denney-Wilson E, Hardy L, Yang B, Dobbins T (2006). NSW Schools Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey (SPANS) 2004; Full Report. Sydney. NSW Department of Health
Heart Protection Study Collaborative Group (2002) MRC/BHF Heart protection Study of antioxidant vitamin supplementation in 20,536 high-risk individuals: a randomised placebo-controlled trial. Lancet 360: 23-33.
Holmquist C, Larsson S, Wolk A, de Faire U (2003) Multivitamin supplements are inversely associated with risk of myocardial infarction in men and women - Stockholm Heart Epidemiology Program (SHEEP). Journal of Nutrition 133: 2650-2654.
Homocysteine Lowering Trialists' Collaboration (1998) Lowering blood homocysteine with folic acid based supplements: meta-analysis of randomised trials. British Medical Journal 316: 894-898.
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