Table 1.
Participant characteristics and potential determinants of young children’s objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behavior (n = 498)
| Mean (SD) or percentages | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Use in analysis | T0 | T1 | |
| Demographic and biological variables | |||
| Sex | % boys | 53.8 | 51.9 |
| Age | years | 3.9 (0.7) | 4.9 (0.7) |
| Birth weight | grams (per 100 g) | 3290 (570) | 3280 (530) |
| Chronic health condition | % with chronic health condition | 7.5 | 7.1 |
| BMIa | % overweight or obese | 24.1 | 18.5 |
| Gross motor skillsa | Composite z-score | 0.0 (1.0) | 0.1 (1.1) |
| Siblings | % having older siblings | 43.2 | 44.5 |
| Parental BMI | % at least one overweight or obese parent | 52.2 | 52.5 |
| SES | Range 16–90; increases with higher SES | 63.1 (15.5) | 62.7 (15.6) |
| Family structure | % single parent households | 10.4 | 9.8 |
| Psychological, cognitive and emotional variables | |||
| Self-regulationa | Range 0-30; increases with better self-regulation | 19.2 (9.5) | 23.3 (8.0) |
| Psychological difficulties | Range 0-40; increases with more difficulties | 8.8 (4.3) | 8.5 (4.7) |
| Emotionality temperament | Range 1-5; increases with more pronounced trait | 2.8 (0.7) | 2.8 (0.7) |
| Activity temperament | Range 1-5; increases with more pronounced trait | 3.8 (0.7) | 3.7 (0.7) |
| Shyness temperament | Range 1-5; increases with more pronounced trait | 2.4 (0.7) | 2.4 (0.7) |
| Parenting stress | Range 5-90; increases with more parenting stress | 37.5 (7.5) | 37.6 (7.6) |
| Cognitive performancea | Composite z-score | 0.0 (1.0) | 0.1 (0.9) |
| Behavioral variables | |||
| Sleep duration | Hours | 10.8 (0.6) | 10.8 (0.5) |
| Play frequency | % more than once/week | 91.2 | 93.1 |
| Social and cultural variables | |||
| Parental sedentary behavior | Hours | 2.8 [2.0, 4.5]b | 3.0 [2.0, 5.0]b |
| Parental sports club membership | % at least one parent is member | 32.0 | 32.8 |
| Parental physical activity | % at least one parent is active | 63.4 | 61.6 |
| Parental Involvement in child physical activity | % at least one parent is involved | 65.0 | 52.3 |
| Mode of transport to childcare | % active | 40.7 | 48.1 |
| Parental tobacco use | % at least one parent smokes | 24.1 | 24.4 |
| Parental alcohol consumption | % at least one parent consumes large amounts | 5.5 | 4.5 |
| Environmental variables | |||
| Time outdoors | Hours | 2.0 [1.5, 3.0]b | 2.0 [1.5, 3.0]b |
| Fixed toys | Range 0-7 | 1.6 (1.5) | 1.6 (1.6) |
| Portable toys | Range 0-8 | 4.5 (1.5) | 4.3 (1.5) |
| Days at childcare | Range 0-5 | 2.8 (1.2) | 2.5 (1.3) |
| Living area per person | m2 | 30.8 (9.1) | 30.8 (8.9) |
| Neighborhood safety | Range 0-44; increases with increasing concerns | 12.6 (7.0) | 12.4 (7.2) |
| Dog | % dog owner | 6.9 | 5.5 |
| Season | % spring and fall months | 75.3 | 77.9 |
| Region | % urban | 34.9 | 39.4 |
PA physical activity, SB sedentary behavior, BMI body mass index, SES socio-economic status
aDirectly measured (all other information is parent-report)
bMedian and inter-quartile range presented for skewed distribution