@article{ref1,
title="Objective analysis of preschoolers' physical activity patterns during free playtime",
journal="Journal of physical activity and health",
year="2015",
author="Greever, Cory J. and Sirard, John and Alhassan, Sofiya",
volume="12",
number="9",
pages="1253-1258",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to examine the temporal patterns of preschoolers' physical activity (PA) levels during a typical outdoor free playtime. <br><br>METHODS: Baseline playtime accelerometer counts (4.3±0.8 days) from three preschool PA intervention studies were utilized (n=326 children, age=4.0±0.8 years). Data were collected using 15-second epochs and classified into sedentary, light or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Patterns of change during playtime were analyzed using orthogonal polynomial comparisons. <br><br>RESULTS: For all ages, there was a U-shaped pattern of change for the percent of epochs classified as sedentary (F (1,323)=47.12, p<0.001) and an inverted U-shaped pattern of change for the percent of epochs classified as MVPA (F (1,323)=32.15, p<0.001). Age-stratified analyses indicated that the three-year olds maintained the decrease in sedentary time (F (2,323)=6.408, p=0.002) and the increase in MVPA (F (2,323)=3.2, p=0.04) to a greater extent than the four- and five-year olds. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Preschool children gradually became more active during the first 10-15 minutes of outdoor gross motor playtime and less active over the final 10-15 minutes of playtime. During the second half of playtime three-year olds maintained these changes to a greater degree than four- and five-year olds.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1543-3080",
doi="10.1123/jpah.2014-0307",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2014-0307"
}