Habitual physical activity levels and sedentary time of children in different childcare arrangements from a nationally representative sample of Canadian preschoolers

Background:Children spend substantial time in childcare,and the reasons parents choose a particular childcare type may differ by family.However,little is known about how childcare type influences habitual(full day)activity levels among children.Therefore,exploring patterns between childcare type and habitual physical activity(PA)(i.e.,light,moderate-to-vigorous PA(MVPA),and total PA)and sedentary time(ST)in young Canadian children is needed.Methods:A nationally representative sample of preschoolers from Cycles 3 and 4 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey was used in this cross-sectional study.Childcare type(e.g.,center-based childcare,home-based childcare,home with parent,kindergarten)was reported by parents.Preschoolers wore an Actical accelerometer for 7 days.Device and population-spcific cut-points were applied to delineate PA intensities and ST.Population means and sample totals were calculated to examine average daily and hourly rates of activity.Results:Preschoolers’rates of MVPA and total PA from the 4 childcare arrangements ranged from 65.99 min/day to 74.62 min/day(5.48-6.18 min/h)and 274.20 min/day to 281.66 min/day (22.69-23.21 min/h),respectively,while ST ranged from 443.13 min/day to 460.57 min/day(36.80-37.31 min/h).No significant differences were observed in daily or hourly rates of activity.Conclusion:This study provides a snapshot of the levels of PA and ST among preschoolers in various childcare settings at a national level,with no differences observed in habitual activity levels based on childcare enrollment.Additional research is needed to clarify the relationship between young children’s PA and childcare type,with consideration given to the quality of the childcare settings.

Neighbourhood differences in objectively measured physical activity, sedentary time and body mass index

Background: There is limited Canadian research examining whether directly measured physical activity (PA) and body mass index (BMI) differ between neighbourhoods with different objectively measured socioeconomic (SES) and recreation (REC) environments. Purpose: To determine whether mean adult PA levels, sedentary time and BMIs were different across four neighbourhoods with contrasting SES and REC environments in Ottawa, Canada. Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design to collect pilot data of objectively measured height, weight and PA (using accelerometry) and self-reported covariates in 113 adults (≥18 years). Four contrasting neighbourhoods (high REC/high SES, high REC/low SES, low REC/high SES, and low REC/low SES) were selected based on data collected as part of the Ottawa Neighbourhood Study. Analysis of covariance and logistic regression were used to perform neighbourhood comparisons for PA, sedentary time and BMI, adjusting for age, sex and household income and possible interactions. Post-hoc comparisons using Tukey’s test were performed. Results: Significant neighbourhood-group effects were observed for light intensity PA and sedentary time. Post-hoc tests identified that the low REC/high SES neighbourhood had significantly more minutes of light PA than the low REC/low SES (Mdiff = 56.05 minutes·day, Tukey p = 0.01). Unadjusted BMI differed between the four neighbourhoods, but the differences were not significant after controlling for age, sex and household income. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that light PA and sedentary time differ between neighbourhoods of varying REC and SES environments after controlling for differences in age, sex and household income. Findings also suggest that other area-level factors may explain these neighbourhood differences.