International Scholarly Research Notices

Review Article

The Impact of Ethnicity on Objectively Measured Physical Activity in Children

Table 1

Studies objectively assessing PA between ethnic groups.


Author	Total number, age, and ethnic group	Instrument	Thresholds	Outcome measures	Results

Black

Pate et al. [58] USA	Total = 438 3–5 (4.2 ± 0.7) Boys (50%) and girls (50%) Black 58.7% White 41.3%	Observation analysis	N/A	Frequency of each activity rated on scale 1 to 5. 30 min sessions, 10–12 sessions = 600–720 session per child	Light/sedentary: No significant ethnic difference (adjusted for BMI). MVPA: No significant ethnic differences in percentage of time MVPA, and active () adjusted for BMI.
Newton et al. [59] USA	Total = 272 Mean age = 10.4 ± 1.1 African American (207), 66 boys and 141 girls Caucasians (65), 26 boys and 39 girls	Actigraph	Trost et al. (2002) [60] Treuth et al. (2004) [61] for sedentary PA	Activity counts per minute Time spent in MVPA, light, and sedentary activity Inclusion: 2 days, 10 hours, 30 sec epoch, weekdays only	PA: Low SES Black engaged in more counts per minute than White (). Light/sedentary time: No significant difference between Black and White. MVPA: Low SES Black spent more time in MVPA than low SES White ().
White and Jago [62] USA Multicentre	Total = 1148 12 years Black 538 White 610 girls	Caltrac		Activity counts per day Inclusion: 2-3 days	PA: Black girls achieved less counts per day than White girls ().

Mexican American/Hispanic

Byrd-Williams et al. [63] USA	Total = 169 Mean age 9.4 years Hispanic (63%) Non-Hispanic White (37%)	Actigraph	Puyau et al. (2002) [64]	Activity counts per minute Hours spent in MET levels Inclusion: 2 or more days, more than 6 hours, 1 min, wake hours	PA: No difference in total physical activity (). Light/Sedentary: No difference in light of sedentary physical activity (). MVPA: No difference in time spent in MVPA (30 mins), light, or sedentary PA ().

South Asian

Duncan et al. [65] UK	Total = 563 9.6 ± 1.0 White South Asian 255 boys and 281 girls	Pedometer	15,000 boys 12,000 girls	4 days	PA: White engaged significantly in more steps/day than SA. MVPA: A lower proportion of SA met the 60 minutes of MVPA guideline.

Mixed Ethnic Groups

Casazza et al. [42] USA	Total = 202 Age 7–12 years) White 68 African American 79 Hispanics 55	Actigraph Body composition-DXA	Actigraph software	Minutes in MVPA, vigorous, sedentary, and moderate activity Inclusion: 1 minute epochs, wake hours (7 days)	Total mins PA/sedentary: No significant difference in daily minutes of total activity or sedentary activity between ethnic groups (total PA = White 670.88 ± 16.4, Black 670.94 ± 16.9, Mexican American/Hispanic 661.08 ± 18.8 (min/d), sedentary = white 438.07 ± 9.2, Black 423.97 ± 10.4, and Mexican American/Hispanic 431.53 ± 10.8 (min/d)) (). MVPA: White spent more minutes than Hispanic (MVPA = White 69.22 ± 4.5, African 59.87 ± 4.4, and Hispanic 51.07 ± 4.9 (min/d)) (). No difference between Black and White.
Owen et al. [66] UK	Total = 2144 Age 9-10 years White EU 565 SA 494 Black African 607 Others 408	Actigraph	Mean daily times (minutes) spent in sedentary (defined as <100 CPM), light (100 to <2000 CPM), moderate (2000 to <4000 CPM), vigorous (44000 CPM), and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA)	Mean counts per minutes, daily steps Time spent in MET levels Mean registered time Measured: 30 sec Inclusion: >600 minutes data collection	PA: South Asians recorded fewer counts per minute and daily steps compared to White. Black recorded significantly more counts per minute than White. Sedentary time/light: South Asians and Black children spent more time in sedentary than White. Black spent more time in light activities. MVPA: South Asian children recorded fewer minutes in moderate and vigorous levels of physical activity (). Black children spent more time MVPA and vigorous PA () and recorded fewer steps compared.
					60 mins day MVPA (government recommendations): lower proportion of South Asians achieved 60 minutes of MVPA (54%) compared to Whites (70%) and Blacks (69%), but gender differences were not modified by ethnicity (). Black and White showed no difference.
Belcher et al. [67] USA NHANES 03-04 05-06 Multicentre	Total = 3106 (boys 1508/girls 1598) (Age 6–19 years) Non-Hispanic Black 605/522 Non-Hispanic White 416/428 Mexican American 548/1587	Actigraph	Trost et al. (2002) [60]	Mean counts per minute Minutes spent in MVPA Inclusion: 4 days, 10 hours minimum per day of data collection	Overall: Whites had lower mean counts than Blacks and Mexican American/Hispanics (). Overweight Black children had higher counts per minute than Whites (). Black children aged 16–19 years were the most active. Mexican American/Hispanic boys spent more time in MVPA, and vigorous PA than White boys (). No differences between ethnic groups and girls sedentary, MVPA and vigorous activity. 6–11 years: Black children and Mexican American/Hispanic were more sedentary than White (). No difference between Whites and Mexican American/Hispanics in moderate, vigorous, or MVPA. Black spent more time in moderate activity, vigorous activity, and MVPA than Whites (). 12–15 years: Whites were less sedentary than Blacks and Mexican American/Hispanics (). Blacks spent more minutes in moderate activity, vigorous activity, and MVPA than Whites. Mexican American/Hispanics spent more minutes in moderate, vigorous, and MVPA than Whites. 16–19 years: Whites were less sedentary than Blacks. No difference between Whites and Mexican American/Hispanics. Blacks spent more time in moderate activity than Whites.
Johnson et al. [68] USA Secondary analysis multicentre	Total = 582 Mean age 10.37 ± 0.48 years Hispanic 307 Caucasian 150 African American 125 Urban, rural, and suburb	Pedometer		Steps per day Inclusion: 3 days	PA: White girls averaged more steps per day than Mexican American/Hispanic and Black (). No significant differences between boys.
Kelly et al. [69] USA Multicentre	Girls only Total = 1180 Age 12 years Black 24.5% Hispanic 15.7% White 59.8%	Actigraph	Treuth et al. (2004) [61]	MVPA time (30 sec) 6 days	MVPA: No significant difference in Mexican American/Hispanic girls and Black girls MVPA compared to White girls (Mexican American/Hispanic = 21.7 minutes per day, Black 19.5 minutes per day, and White 22.8 minutes per day, ).
Matthews et al. [70] USA NHANES 03-04 multicentre	Total = 1612 6–11 years boys 360 (girls 404) Non-Hispanic Whites 104 (117) Non-Hispanic Blacks 138 (149) Mexican Americans 118 (138) 12–15 years boys 447 (girls 401) Non-Hispanic Whites 121 (105) Non-Hispanic Blacks 180 (145) Mexican Americans 146 (151)	Actigraph	Treuth et al. (2004) [61]	Amount of time spent in sedentary behaviour (hours/day) Inclusion: 7 days, 1 minute epochs, 10 hours of data collection.	Sedentary activity: 6–11 yrs: Black girls were less sedentary (5.88 ± 0.06) than White (6.18 ± 0.06) (). Mexican American/Hispanic were less sedentary than Whites ()
Pate et al. [71] USA Multicentre	Girls only Total = 1578 Mean age 11.7 ± 0.4 to 12.3 ± 0.7 years 706 Whites 344 African American 343 Hispanic 61 Asian American	Actigraph	Treuth et al. (2004) [61] + 2 others	Compliance to 30 minutes, a day recommendation Inclusion: 6 days, 30 sec, 12 hours data collection.	MVPA: White girls were more active (MVPA) than other ethnic groups (Black and Mexican American/Hispanic, ()).
Pfeiffer et al. [72] USA	Total = 331 (Age 3–5) White 40.2% African American 51.4% Others 8.5%	Actigraph	Pate et al. (2006) [71]	MVPA min·hr Nonsedentary activity Measured: 15 second intervals, 5 days Inclusion: >5 hours and <18 hours data collection	PA: Black children were more active than White children (MVPA = 7.9 versus 7.3 min/hr, ). Black males were more active than White males (MVPA = 8.5 versus 7.8 min/hr ).
Gortmaker et al. [73] USA	Total = 3381 1665 and 1716 (6–11 years) Non-Hispanic Black 1232Non-Hispanic White 901 Mexican 1248	Actigraph	Trost et al. (2002) [60]	Means counts/min Mins/day MVPA, 4 days or more. 1 min	PA: Non-Hispanic Blacks were more active than non-Hispanic Whites () (accelerometer counts). MVPA: Non-Hispanic black more minutes in MVPA than non-Hispanic white spent (adjusted). Hispanic versus White showed no significant difference (adjusted). Time in activity increased in non-Hispanic White but decreased in Black and Mexican children 1 year later.
Casazza et al. [74] USA	Total = 215 Age 7–12 years African American 68 European American 92 Hispanic American 55	MTI Actigraph Body composition- DXA	Moderate (3–5.9) Hard (6–8.99) Hard >9 Light ≤2.99.	Daily counts Minutes in METS Measured: 7 days, 1 minute epoch	PA: No difference in total PA. Light/sedentary: No difference in sedentary activity between racial/ethnic groups (). Total MVPA: White children engaged in more moderate and hard activity than Mexican American/Hispanic (). Daily MVPA: No difference between White, Black, and Mexican American and Hispanic. No difference in sedentary behaviour. Pubertal status assessed.
Duncan et al. [75] New Zealand	Girls only Total = 1213 (Age 6–16 years) 637 EU 272 Pacific Island 207 East Asian 179 Maori 142 South Asian 76 other ethnic groups	Pedometer (NL-2000)	N/A	Steps per day	No difference in pedometer compliance between ethnic groups. PA: South Asian girls were the least active ethnic groups during weekdays and weekend ().

MET: metabolic equivalent, MVPA: moderate and vigorous physical activity, DXA: dual X-ray absorptiometry, PA: physical activity, and BHR: basal heart rate.