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1. Seasons, weather, and device-measured movement behaviors: a scoping review from 2006 to 2020

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-021-01091-1  

   Turrisi, Taylor B. ; Bittel, Kelsey M. ; West, Ashley B. ; Hojjatinia, Sarah ; Hojjatinia, Sahar ; Mama, Scherezade K. ; Lagoa, Constantino M. ; Conroy, David E. ( December 2021 , International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract Background This scoping review summarized research on (a) seasonal differences in physical activity and sedentary behavior, and (b) specific weather indices associated with those behaviors. Methods PubMed, CINAHL, and SPORTDiscus were searched to identify relevant studies. After identifying and screening 1459 articles, data were extracted from 110 articles with 118,189 participants from 30 countries (almost exclusively high-income countries) on five continents. Results Both physical activity volume and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were greater in summer than winter. Sedentary behavior was greater in winter than either spring or summer, and insufficient evidence existed to draw conclusions about seasonal differences in light physical activity. Physical activity volume and MVPA duration were positively associated with both the photoperiod and temperature, and negatively associated with precipitation. Sedentary behavior was negatively associated with photoperiod and positively associated with precipitation. Insufficient evidence existed to draw conclusions about light physical activity and specific weather indices. Many weather indices have been neglected in this literature (e.g., air quality, barometric pressure, cloud coverage, humidity, snow, visibility, windchill). Conclusions The natural environment can influence health by facilitating or inhibiting physical activity. Behavioral interventions should be sensitive to potential weather impacts. Extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change may compromise health-enhancing physical activity in the short term and, over longer periods of time, stimulate human migration in search of more suitable environmental niches. 

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2. High levels of objectively measured physical activity across adolescence and adulthood among the Pokot pastoralists of Kenya

   https://doi.org/10.1002/ajhb.23205  

   Sayre, M_Katherine ; Pike, Ivy_L ; Raichlen, David_A ( December 2018 , American Journal of Human Biology)

   Levels of physical activity (PA) across the lifespan are important predictors of physical fitness, impacting individual health, and longevity. Individuals living in industrialized societies are often characterized as more sedentary than those who live in small‐scale societies, and this inactivity is generally linked with increased incidence of chronic disease, especially during aging. However, less empirical data exist regarding levels and patterns of PA across the lifespan among small‐scale societies compared with industrialized societies. The goal of this study was to characterize PA among the Pokot pastoralists of rural northern Kenya.

   PA was measured in 40 participants ranging in age from 14 to 78 years using ActiGraph wrist‐worn accelerometers. Wear time spanned 24–77 hours, with a modal wear time of 50 hours.

   We show that the Pokot spend large amounts of time in moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA), achieving an average of 99.14 ± 7.25 minutes per day in MVPA. Males and younger participants tended to spend more time in MVPA. However, older participants were still physically active and engaged in over 50 minutes per day of MVPA.

   The Pokot are highly physically active from adolescence through adulthood. Other pastoralist groups may display a similar pattern of PA. During human evolution, lifespans increased, and lifestyles were characterized by a relatively high level of physical activity. The human aging process may be adapted for activity throughout life, and lifelong activity may have played an important role in increases in human longevity during evolution.

    

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3. CHAP-child: an open source method for estimating sit-to-stand transitions and sedentary bout patterns from hip accelerometers among children

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-022-01349-2  

   Carlson, Jordan A. ; Ridgers, Nicola D. ; Nakandala, Supun ; Zablocki, Rong ; Tuz-Zahra, Fatima ; Bellettiere, John ; Hibbing, Paul R. ; Steel, Chelsea ; Jankowska, Marta M. ; Rosenberg, Dori E. ; et al ( December 2022 , International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity)

   Abstract Background Hip-worn accelerometer cut-points have poor validity for assessing children’s sedentary time, which may partly explain the equivocal health associations shown in prior research. Improved processing/classification methods for these monitors would enrich the evidence base and inform the development of more effective public health guidelines. The present study aimed to develop and evaluate a novel computational method (CHAP-child) for classifying sedentary time from hip-worn accelerometer data. Methods Participants were 278, 8–11-year-olds recruited from nine primary schools in Melbourne, Australia with differing socioeconomic status. Participants concurrently wore a thigh-worn activPAL (ground truth) and hip-worn ActiGraph (test measure) during up to 4 seasonal assessment periods, each lasting up to 8 days. activPAL data were used to train and evaluate the CHAP-child deep learning model to classify each 10-s epoch of raw ActiGraph acceleration data as sitting or non-sitting, creating comparable information from the two monitors. CHAP-child was evaluated alongside the current practice 100 counts per minute (cpm) method for hip-worn ActiGraph monitors. Performance was tested for each 10-s epoch and for participant-season level sedentary time and bout variables (e.g., mean bout duration). Results Across participant-seasons, CHAP-child correctly classified each epoch as sitting or non-sitting relative to activPAL, with mean balanced accuracy of 87.6% (SD = 5.3%). Sit-to-stand transitions were correctly classified with mean sensitivity of 76.3% (SD = 8.3). For most participant-season level variables, CHAP-child estimates were within ± 11% (mean absolute percent error [MAPE]) of activPAL, and correlations between CHAP-child and activPAL were generally very large (> 0.80). For the current practice 100 cpm method, most MAPEs were greater than ± 30% and most correlations were small or moderate (≤ 0.60) relative to activPAL. Conclusions There was strong support for the concurrent validity of the CHAP-child classification method, which allows researchers to derive activPAL-equivalent measures of sedentary time, sit-to-stand transitions, and sedentary bout patterns from hip-worn triaxial ActiGraph data. Applying CHAP-child to existing datasets may provide greater insights into the potential impacts and influences of sedentary time in children. 

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4. Pre- Versus Postmeal Sedentary Duration—Impact on Postprandial Glucose in Older Adults With Overweight or Obesity

   https://doi.org/10.1123/jmpb.2023-0032  

   Chun, Elizabeth ; Gaynanova, Irina ; Melanson, Edward L. ; Lyden, Kate ( January 2024 , Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour)

   Introduction: Reducing sedentary time is associated with improved postprandial glucose regulation. However, it is not known if the timing of sedentary behavior (i.e., pre- vs. postmeal) differentially impacts postprandial glucose in older adults with overweight or obesity.Methods: In this secondary analysis, older adults (≥65 years) with overweight and obesity (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m²) wore a continuous glucose monitor and a sedentary behavior monitor continuously in their real-world environments for four consecutive days on four separate occasions. Throughout each 4-day measurement period, participants followed a standardized eucaloric diet and recorded mealtimes in a diary. Glucose, sedentary behavior, and meal intake data were fused using sensor and diary timestamps. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to evaluate the impact of sedentary timing relative to meal intake.Results: Premeal sedentary time was significantly associated with both the increase from premeal glucose to the postmeal peak (ΔG) and the percent of premeal glucose increase that was recovered 1-hr postmeal glucose peak (%Baseline Recovery;p < .05), with higher levels of premeal sedentary time leading to both a larger ΔGand a smaller %Baseline Recovery. Postmeal sedentary time was significantly associated with the time from meal intake to glucose peak (ΔT;p < .05), with higher levels of postmeal sedentary time leading to a longer time to peak.Conclusions: Pre- versus postmeal sedentary behavior differentially impacts postprandial glucose response in older adults with overweight or obesity, suggesting that the timing of sedentary behavior reductions might play an influential role on long-term glycemic control.

    

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5. The quality of early caregiving and teacher-student relationships in grade school independently predict adolescent academic achievement

   https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254221137511  

   Magro, Sophia_W ; Nivison, Marissa_D ; Englund, Michelle_M ; Roisman, Glenn_I ( November 2022 , International Journal of Behavioral Development)

   Prior research has demonstrated that teacher-student relationships characterized by high levels of closeness and low levels of conflict are associated with higher levels of academic achievement among children. At the same time: (a) some research suggests that the quality of teacher-student relationships in part reflects the quality of early caregiving, and (b) the observed quality of early care by primary caregivers robustly predicts subsequent academic achievement. Given the potential for associations between teacher-student relationship quality and academic achievement to thus be confounded by the quality of early parenting experiences, the present study examined to what extent children’s experiences in early life with primary caregivers (i.e., ages 3 to 42 months) and relationships with teachers during grade school (i.e., Kindergarten to Grade 6) were uniquely associated with an objective assessment of academic achievement at age 16 years in a sample born into poverty ( N = 267; 45% female; 65% White/non-Hispanic; 41% of mothers did not complete high school). Early maternal sensitivity, though a strong predictor of later academic achievement, was not reliably associated with either teacher-reports or interview-based assessments of teacher-student relationship quality in grade school. Nonetheless, early maternal sensitivity and teacher-student relationship quality were each uniquely associated with later academic achievement, above and beyond key demographic variables. Taken together, the present results highlight that the quality of children’s relationships with adults at home and at school independently, but not interactively, predicted later academic achievement in a high-risk sample.

    

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