Abstract
Aim: This study sought to examine ambulatory physical activity levels in adolescents from the UK and Belgium. Methods: Following ethics approval, 2760 children (1247 boys, 1513 girls), aged 9-14 years from Belgium (n=1614) and the UK (n=1146), wore a pedometer for 4 days including at least 1 weekend day. Body mass index (BMI) was determined from height and mass. Results: A 2 (gender)×2 (country) way ANCOVA, controlling for age and BMI, revealed a significant country-by-gender interaction for steps/day (p=0.0001). In both Belgium and the UK, boys were more physically active than girls (both p=0.0001), but the difference between boys and girls was greater for Belgian than UK children. Conclusion: These results suggest there are differences in the ambulatory physical activity patterns of children in the UK and Belgium.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 290-292 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | Annals of Human Biology |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cross-cultural
- obesity
- pedometry
- physical activity