Associations between objectively assessed physical activity and indicators of body fatness in 9- to 10-y-old European children: a population-based study from 4 distinct regions in Europe (the European Youth Heart Study)

Background: The rising prevalence of obesity in children may be due to a reduction in physical activity (PA). Objective: Our aim was to study the associations of objectively measured PA volume and its subcomponents with indicators of body fatness. Design: A cross-sectional study of 129:2 children aged 9-10 y from 4 distinct regions in Europe (Odense, Denmark; the island of Madeira, Portugal; Oslo; and Tartu, Estonia) was conducted. PA was measured by accelerometry, and indicators of body fatness were the sum of 5 skinfold thicknesses and body mass index (BMI; in kg/[m.sup.2]). We examined the associations between PA and body fatness by using general linear models adjusted for potential confounding variables. Results: After adjustment for sex, study location, sexual maturity, birth weight, and parental BMI, time (min/d) spent at moderate and vigorous PA (P = 0.032) and time (rain/d) spent at vigorous PA were significantly (P = 0.015) and independently associated with body fatness. Sex, study location, sexual maturity, birth weight, and parental BMI explained 29% (adjusted [R.sup.2] = 0.29) of the variation in body fatness. Time spent at vigorous PA explained an additional 0.5%. Children who accumulated 2 h/d. Conclusions: The accumulated amount of time spent at moderate and vigorous PA is related to body fatness in children, but this relation is weak; the explained variance was < 1%. Am J Clin Nutr 2004;80:584-90. KEY WORDS Accelerometry, adiposity, children, energy expenditure, physical activity, skinfold thickness, European Youth Heart Study