Childhood and adolescent predictors of leisure time physical activity during the transition from adolescence to adulthood: a population based cohort study

Jose, Blizzard Leigh, Dwyer Terry, Mckercher Charlotte, Venn

Description

Few studies have investigated factors that influence physical activity behavior during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. This study explores the associations of sociodemographic, behavioral, sociocultural, attitudinal and physical factors measured in childhood and adolescence with physical activity behavior during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Methods Childhood and adolescent data (at ages 7-15 years) were collected as part of the 1985 Australian Health and Fitness Survey and subdivided into sociodemographics (socioeconomic status, parental education), behavioral (smoking, alcohol, sports diversity, outside school sports), sociocultural (active father, active mother, any older siblings, any younger siblings, language spoken at home), attitudinal (sports/recreational competency, self-rated health, enjoyment physical education/physical activity, not enjoying school sports) and physical (BMI, time taken to run 1.6 km, long jump) factors. Physical activity between the ages 15 and 29 years was reported retrospectively using the Historical Leisure Activity Questionnaire at follow-up in 2004-2006 by 2,048 participants in the Childhood Determinants of Adult Health Study (CDAH). Australia's physical activity recommendations for children and adults were used to categorize participants as persistently active, variably active or persistently inactive during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Results For females, perceived sports competency in childhood and adolescence was significantly associated with being persistently active (RR = 1.88, 95% CI = 1.39, 2.55). Smoking (RR = 0.31 CI = 0.12, 0.82) and having younger siblings (RR = 0.69 CI = 0.52, 0.93) were inversely associated with being persistently active after taking physical and attitudinal factors into account. For males, playing sport outside school (RR = 1.47 CI = 1.05, 2.08), having active fathers (RR = 1.25 CI = 1.01, 1.54) and not enjoying school sport (RR = 4.07 CI = 2.31, 7.17) were associated with being persistently active into adulthood. Time taken to complete the 1.6 km run was inversely associated with being persistently active into adulthood (RR = 0.85 CI = 0.78, 0.93) after adjusting for recreational competency. Conclusions Perceived sports competency (females) and cardiorespiratory fitness, playing sport outside school and having active fathers (males) in childhood and adolescence were positively associated with being persistently active during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Informations

• Publié par: biomed
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 4
• Langue: English

Extrait

Jose
etal
.
InternationalJournalofBehavioralNutritionandPhysicalActivity
2011,
8
:54
http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/8/1/54

RESEARCH

OpenAccess

Childhoodandadolescentpredictorsofleisure
timephysicalactivityduringthetransitionfrom
adolescencetoadulthood:apopulationbased
cohortstudy
KimAJose
1*
,LeighBlizzard
1
,TerryDwyer
2
,CharlotteMcKercher
1
andAlisonJVenn
1

Abstract
Background:
Fewstudieshaveinvestigatedfactorsthatinfluencephysicalactivitybehaviorduringthetransition
fromadolescencetoadulthood.Thisstudyexplorestheassociationsofsociodemographic,behavioral,sociocultural,
attitudinalandphysicalfactorsmeasuredinchildhoodandadolescencewithphysicalactivitybehaviorduringthe
transitionfromadolescencetoadulthood.
Methods:
Childhoodandadolescentdata(atages7-15years)werecollectedaspartofthe1985AustralianHealth
andFitnessSurveyandsubdividedintosociodemographics(socioeconomicstatus,parentaleducation),behavioral
(smoking,alcohol,sportsdiversity,outsideschoolsports),sociocultural(activefather,activemother,anyolder
siblings,anyyoungersiblings,languagespokenathome),attitudinal(sports/recreationalcompetency,self-rated
health,enjoymentphysicaleducation/physicalactivity,notenjoyingschoolsports)andphysical(BMI,timetakento
run1.6km,longjump)factors.Physicalactivitybetweentheages15and29yearswasreportedretrospectively
usingtheHistoricalLeisureActivityQuestionnaireatfollow-upin2004-2006by2,048participantsintheChildhood
DeterminantsofAdultHealthStudy(CDAH).Australia
’
sphysicalactivityrecommendationsforchildrenandadults
wereusedtocategorizeparticipantsaspersistentlyactive,variablyactiveorpersistentlyinactiveduringthe
transitionfromadolescencetoadulthood.
Results:
Forfemales,perceivedsportscompetencyinchildhoodandadolescencewassignificantlyassociatedwith
beingpersistentlyactive(RR=1.88,95%CI=1.39,2.55).Smoking(RR=0.31CI=0.12,0.82)andhavingyounger
siblings(RR=0.69CI=0.52,0.93)wereinverselyassociatedwithbeingpersistentlyactiveaftertakingphysicaland
attitudinalfactorsintoaccount.Formales,playingsportoutsideschool(RR=1.47CI=1.05,2.08),havingactive
fathers(RR=1.25CI=1.01,1.54)andnotenjoyingschoolsport(RR=4.07CI=2.31,7.17)wereassociatedwith
beingpersistentlyactiveintoadulthood.Timetakentocompletethe1.6kmrunwasinverselyassociatedwith
beingpersistentlyactiveintoadulthood(RR=0.85CI=0.78,0.93)afteradjustingforrecreationalcompetency.
Conclusions:
Perceivedsportscompetency(females)andcardiorespiratoryfitness,playingsportoutsideschooland
havingactivefathers(males)inchildhoodandadolescencewerepositivelyassociatedwithbeingpersistently
activeduringthetransitionfromadolescencetoadulthood.

*Correspondence:[e-mail]
1
MenziesResearchInstituteTasmania,UniversityofTasmania,PrivateBag23,
Hobart,Tasmania,Australia
Fulllistofauthorinformationisavailableattheendofthearticle
©2011Joseetal;licenseeBioMedCentralLtd.ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommons
AttributionLicense(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductionin
anymedium,providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.

Jose
etal
.
InternationalJournalofBehavioralNutritionandPhysicalActivity
2011,
8
:54
http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/8/1/54

Background
Thehealthbenefitsofregularphysicalactivityarewell
established[1]andparticipationinregularphysical
activityovertimeisassociatedwithadecreaseinall-
causemortality[2].Longitudinalstudiesshowadecline
inphysicalactivitywithincreasingage[3-5]withphysi-
calactivitytrackingatlowtomoderatelevelsacrossthe
lifespan[6,7].Physicalfitnessmeasuresshowgreater
longitudinalstabilitythanphysicalactivity[3,6].Studies
revealadecreaseinphysicalactivityparticipationduring
adolescence[5,8]anddifferencesinpatternsofphysical
activityparticipationformalesandfemales[4,9].
Longitudinalstudiesofadolescentswithrepeatedmea-
suresofphysicalactivityshowthatonlyaminoritywere
classifiedaspersistentexercisersacrossthestudyperiod
[10,11].InastudyofFinnishyouthatages16,17and
18only19.1%ofboysand11.2%ofgirlswerecategor-
izedaspersistentexercisersacrossallthreeages[10].In
alongitudinalNewZealandstudyonly5.8%offemales
and15.8%ofmaleswerefoundtomeetphysicalactivity
recommendationsatage15andage18[11].Thetransi-
tionfromlateadolescencetoadulthoodisatimeof
intensesocialtransitionassociatedwithanumberofsig-
nificantlifeevents.Physicalactivityresearchershave
calledforfurtherinvestigationofphysicalactivitybeha-
viorsduringlifetransitions[12].
Studiesofchildhoodpredictorsofadultphysicalactivity
haveinvestigatedsociodemographicfactors[13-15],sports
participation[14,16],physicalactivityinchildhoodorado-
lescence[7,14]andphysicalfitnessmeasures[3,17].None
haveinvestigatedallofthesemeasuresorfocusedonthe
transitionfromadolescencetoadulthood.Wewereableto
exploretheassociationbetweensociodemographic,beha-
vioral,sociocultural,attitudinalandphysicalfactorsmea-
suredinchildhoodandadolescenceonmaintaining
physicalactivitythroughtoyoungadulthood.
Methods
Participants
Childhooddataforthisstudyweretakenfromthe1985
AustralianSchoolsHealthandFitnessSurvey(ASHFS),
anationalsurveyof8,4987-15yearoldschoolchildren.
Detailsofthe1985samplingstrategyaredescribedelse-
where[18].Participantsunderwentarangeofhealth
andfitnesstestsincludingaerobicfitness,muscular
strengthandanthropometry.Childrenaged9yearsand
over(n=6,559)alsocompletedaquestionnairein
groupsoffourundersupervisionofatraineddatacol-
lector.Thequestionnaireaskedaboutparticipationin
sportandexercise,perceivedcompetencyatsportand
exercise,smokingandalcoholuse,parentalexercise
habits,andattitudestowardssport,exerciseandhealth.
In2001-2002,6,840(81%)oftheASHFSparticipants
werelocatedandinvitedtoenrolintheChildhood

Page2of9

DeterminantsofAdultHealth(CDAH)study.Atotalof
5,170(61%baseline)enrolledinthefollowupstudyand
completedashortquestionnaire.Additionalquestion-
naires,includingtheHistoricalLeisureActivityQues-
tionnaire(HLAQ)werecompletedby2,583CDAH
participants.Thisstudyincludedthosewhohadcom-
pletedboththechildhoodquestionnaireandtheHLAQ
atfollow-up(n=2,048).
TheCDAHstudywasapprovedbytheSouthernTas-
maniaHealthandMedicalHumanResearchEthics
Committeeandallparticipantsprovidedwritten
informedconsent.
PhysicalActivityMeasures
TheHLAQwasdevelopedbyKriskaandcolleaguesto
retrospectivelyassesslifetimeparticipationinleisure
activity[19,20].Amodifiedversionofthisquestionnaire
wasusedtocaptureAustraliansportingandrecreational
activitiesandassessparticipationinleisureactivityin
participantsfromage15yearstofollow-up.Participants
wereaskedtoincludeactivitiesthattheyhadpartici-
patedinwithfriends,anorganisedteam,group,clubor
forschool,butnotincludingthosedoneduringphysical
educationclasses.TheHLAQrequiredparticipantsto
estimatethenumberofyears,monthsperyearand
hoursperweekthattheyparticipatedineachactivity
overthreeageperiods:15-19,20-24and25-29years.
Averageminutesperweekspentinactivitieswasthen
calculatedforeachofthethreeagegroups.Energy
expenditure(metabolicequivalents)wasestimatedusing
theAinsworthcompendiumofphysicalactivities[21].
ParticipantswerecategorizedasactiveiftheymetAus-
tralia
’
sphysicalactivityrecommendationsforchildren/
adolescents(420minsmoderatetovigorousphysical
activity/week)atages15-19oradultrecommendations
(150minsmoderatetovigorousphysicalactivity/week)
atages20-29.Persistentlyactiveparticipantsmetthe
guidelinesateachofthethreeagegroupings.Those
whofailedtomeettherecommendationsatanytime
periodwereclassifiedaspersistentlyinactiveandthe
remainderwereclassifiedasvariablyactive.
Atfollow-upparticipantscompletedthelongversion
oftheInternationalPhysicalActivityQuestionnaire
(IPAQ)[22].Weeklyminutesofleisuretimephysical
activitywereusedtoindicatediscretionaryphysical
activity.Cardiorespiratoryfitnesswasalsomeasured
usingabicycleergometertesttoestimatephysicalwork
capacityataheartrateof170beats/minute(PWC170)
onaMonarkbicycleergometer(model828E,Monark
ExerciseAB,Sweden)usingastandardizedprotocol[23]
ChildhoodandAdolescentMeasures
Withtheexceptionofparentaleducation(reportedret-
rospectivelyatfollow-up)allmeasureswerecollectedat

Jose
etal
.
InternationalJournalofBehavioralNutritionandPhysicalActivity
2011,
8
:54
http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/8/1/54

baselinein1985.Sociodemographicinformationcol-
lectedincludedpostcodeofresidenceatbaseline.The
highestlevelofeducationachievedbyparentswhenpar-
ticipantswereaged12yearswascollectedretrospec-
tivelyatfollow-up.Postcodeatbaselinewasusedto
categorizeparticipantsusingtheAustralianBureauof
StatisticsSocio-economicIndexforAreas(SEIFA)and
1981censusdata.SEIFAisasummaryoffiveindices
measuringdifferentaspectsofsocioeconomicstatus
basedonquestionsaskedintheAustralianpopulation
census.Allpostcodesareclassifiedintofourcategories
(low,medium-low,medium-highandhigh)usingthe
indexofrelativesocioeconomicdisadvantage.Parental
educationwascategorizedintohigh(university),med-
ium(trade/vocational)andlow(schoolonly).
Behavioralfactorsincludedfrequencyofsmokingand
alcoholuse,sportsplayedandwhetherthesportswere
playedforschool