Weather and children's physical activity; how and why do relationships vary between countries?

Details

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State: Public
Version: Final published version
Serval ID
serval:BIB_9DDEFD8CB6AD
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Weather and children's physical activity; how and why do relationships vary between countries?
Journal
The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity
Author(s)
Harrison F., Goodman A., van Sluijs EMF, Andersen L.B., Cardon G., Davey R., Janz K.F., Kriemler S., Molloy L., Page A.S., Pate R., Puder J.J., Sardinha L.B., Timperio A., Wedderkopp N., Jones A.P.
Working group(s)
on behalf the ICAD collaborators
Contributor(s)
Andersen L.B., Anderssen S., Cardon G., Cooper A., Davey R., Ekelund U., Esliger D.W., Froberg K., Hallal P., Janz K.F., Kordas K., Kriemler S., Page A., Pate R., Puder J.J., Reilly J., Salmon J., Sardinha L.B., Sherar L.B., Timperio A., van Sluijs E.
ISSN
1479-5868 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1479-5868
Publication state
Published
Issued date
30/05/2017
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
14
Number
1
Pages
74
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Comparative Study ; Journal Article ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Publication Status: epublish
Abstract
Globally most children do not engage in enough physical activity. Day length and weather conditions have been identified as determinants of physical activity, although how they may be overcome as barriers is not clear. We aim to examine if and how relationships between children's physical activity and weather and day length vary between countries and identify settings in which children were better able to maintain activity levels given the weather conditions they experienced.
In this repeated measures study, we used data from 23,451 participants in the International Children's Accelerometry Database (ICAD). Daily accelerometer-measured physical activity (counts per minute; cpm) was matched to local weather conditions and the relationships assessed using multilevel regression models. Multilevel models accounted for clustering of days within occasions within children within study-cities, and allowed us to explore if and how the relationships between weather variables and physical activity differ by setting.
Increased precipitation and wind speed were associated with decreased cpm while better visibility and more hours of daylight were associated with increased cpm. Models indicated that increases in these variables resulted in average changes in mean cpm of 7.6/h of day length, -13.2/cm precipitation, 10.3/10 km visibility and -10.3/10kph wind speed (all p < 0.01). Temperature showed a cubic relationship with cpm, although between 0 and 20 degrees C the relationship was broadly linear. Age showed interactions with temperature and precipitation, with the associations larger among younger children. In terms of geographic trends, participants from Northern European countries and Melbourne, Australia were the most active, and also better maintained their activity levels given the weather conditions they experienced compared to those in the US and Western Europe.
We found variation in the relationship between weather conditions and physical activity between ICAD studies and settings. Children in Northern Europe and Melbourne, Australia were not only more active on average, but also more active given the weather conditions they experienced. Future work should consider strategies to mitigate the impacts of weather conditions, especially among young children, and interventions involving changes to the physical environment should consider how they will operate in different weather conditions.

Keywords
Accelerometry, Adolescent, Australia, Child, Child, Preschool, Europe, Exercise/psychology, Female, Humans, Male, Motor Activity, Photoperiod, Rain, Seasons, Weather, Wind, ICAD, Physical activity, Season
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
06/06/2017 17:33
Last modification date
20/08/2019 15:04
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