Physical Activity Measurement Of 10-14 Year Old Northern Plains American Indian Youth

The health benefits of physical activity (PA) include improved cardiovascular, bone and muscle health, and decreased risk of obesity and related diseases like type 2 diabetes and heart disease. The ACSM and AMA guidelines state that for health, youth should engage in at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at least 5 days per week or for aerobic fitness, 20 min of vigorous physical activity (VPA) three or more days per week. PURPOSE: This pilot study assessed the feasibility of using 7-day accelerometry to measure PA in Northern Plains American Indian (AI) youth and to describe that PA as part of the outcomes of a primary prevention health curriculum. METHODS: Youth, ages 10-14 years (n=27), were recruited from two Northern Plains AI reservation communities to participate in a pilot study of an age-adapted and culturally specific health curriculum. In addition to anthropometric, biological, and survey measures, students wore a wrist accelerometer to record PA for 7 days. Activity was recorded in 1 min epochs which were later converted to minutes of sedentary, light, moderate, and vigorous activity. RESULTS: Usable PA data were obtained from 19 of the AI youth in the pilot. All met the youth PA health guidelines (mean MVPA = 131 + 42 min/day). When BMI were evaluated by age and gender percentile, students below the 85th percentile engaged in more daily MVPA (MVPA for <85%ile= 146.2 + 45.1 min/day) than youth at or above the 85% BMI percentile (MVPA for > 85%ile= 96.9 + 48.3 min/day, p= 0.03). None of the 19 AI youth met the fitness guidelines (VPA = 4.0 + 7.1 min/day). CONCLUSION: These data show that the Northern Plains American Indian youth participating in this pilot study were meeting the national PA guidelines for health, but not fitness. The 7-day accelerometer compliance was lower than expected, however subsequent trials of the curriculum have provided opportunities to strengthen accelerometer methods in this population and increase AI youth compliance to the PA measurement. These preliminary data suggest that education focusing on ways to meet national guidelines for daily fitness is just as important as teaching ways to meet daily physical activity recommendations for health. Supported by: Grant number 1 R34DK7446-01-A2 from The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases