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Abstract(s)
The study of physical activity patterns (PAP) is still in its infancy due to
methodological problems in measuring instruments of physical activity, and the
lack of specific analytical tools to capture all its intrinsic issues. Moreover, it is not
well known if differences among subjects are mainly due to specific environmental
conditions, genetic attributes or both. This picture is more acute in children.
PURPOSE: to explore different ways of viewing and analyzing PAP in children.
METHODS: 31 twin pairs (18 MZ and 13 DZ) aged 6 to 12 years of age were
monitored for 5 days (3 week-day and a week-end) with a tri-axial accelerometer
(TRITRAC R3D). Count data was read in a specialized software (GEMWIZARD),
was transformed in energy expenditure according to manufacturer indications, so that 4
phenotypes were derived: till 3 Mets (low PA), from 3 to 6 Mets (moderate PA), from 6
to 9 Mets (vigorous PA), and above 9 Mets (very vigorous PA). SPSS was used for all
data analysis (descriptive stats, graphical dispays and correlations).
RESULTS: It is evident that most part of the days is spent in low PA, and very few
episodes of vigorous or very vigorous activities. Per each hour, across days, about
56 minutes are of low PA. Per day, about 17 minutes are spent in moderate PA, and
3 to 4 minutes in vigorous or very vigorous PA. The amount of inter-individual
differences in pairs of MZ and DZ twins is very high, although intra-pair range seems
higher in DZ than MZ twins. Twin similarity (Pearson correlation) is as follows : low
PA, rM Z=0.886, rDZ=0.772; moderate PA, rMZ=9.946, rDZ=0.880; vigorous PA,
rMZ=0.636, rDZ=0.490; very vigorous PA, rMZ=0.759, rDZ=0.522).
CONCLUSIONS: In children, physical activity is mainly random. The highest
frequency is for low activities (
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Citation
Maia, José A.R.; Lopes, Vítor P.; Martins, S.; Amorim, A.; Alves, C. (2006). Patterns of physical activity: an exploratory study using twins. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. ISSN 0195-9131. 38:5, p. 540