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Physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns of Singaporean adolescents
Citation
Lye, C. T. J., Mukherjee, S., & Chia, M. Y. H. (2015). Physical activity and sedentary behavior patterns of Singaporean adolescents. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 12(9), 1213-1220. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2014-0207
Abstract
Background: Adolescents require at least 60 minutes of daily moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (PA) for optimum health benefits. Reduced active and increased sedentary time can adversely affect health independently. This study investigated the sedentary behavior and physical activity patterns of Singaporean adolescents.
Methods: 233 adolescents aged 13-15 years participated in the study. Accelerometery was used to assess the daily PA patterns for three weekdays and two weekend days consecutively. Height, weight, BMI, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio were determined as surrogate measures of health.
Results: None of the participants achieved the recommended 60 minutes of daily MVPA on all five days. Significantly more time was spent engaging in sedentary activity compared to MVPA on both weekdays and weekends. MVPA and sedentary time were positively associated on weekdays after controlling for gender (p < .001). Weekday MVPA was positively associated with waist circumference (p < .001) and waist-hip ratio (p < .001).
Conclusion: Singaporean adolescents fall substantially short of meeting the daily PA recommendations. Separate strategies to promote PA may be necessary for adolescents of differing weight status and gender. Pragmatic rather than idealistic targets to promote PA need to be set based on population-specific baseline data.
Methods: 233 adolescents aged 13-15 years participated in the study. Accelerometery was used to assess the daily PA patterns for three weekdays and two weekend days consecutively. Height, weight, BMI, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio were determined as surrogate measures of health.
Results: None of the participants achieved the recommended 60 minutes of daily MVPA on all five days. Significantly more time was spent engaging in sedentary activity compared to MVPA on both weekdays and weekends. MVPA and sedentary time were positively associated on weekdays after controlling for gender (p < .001). Weekday MVPA was positively associated with waist circumference (p < .001) and waist-hip ratio (p < .001).
Conclusion: Singaporean adolescents fall substantially short of meeting the daily PA recommendations. Separate strategies to promote PA may be necessary for adolescents of differing weight status and gender. Pragmatic rather than idealistic targets to promote PA need to be set based on population-specific baseline data.
Date Issued
2015
Publisher
Human Kinetics
Journal
Journal of Physical Activity and Health