Measurement Issues in the Assessment of Physical Activity in Children

作者：Gregory J. Welk, Charles B. Corbin, Darren Dale · 发表于：Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport · 年份：2000 · DOI：10.1080/02701367.2000.11082788 · 被引用次数：793 · 研究领域：Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet、Physical Activity and Health、Children's Physical and Motor Development

This paper reviewed the nature of children's physical activity patterns and how the unique nature of children can impact the assessment of physical activity. To accurately assess children's activity patterns, an instrument must be sensitive enough to detect, code, or record sporadic and intermittent activity. Care also must be used to select criterion measures that reflect appropriate physical activity guidelines for children. A number of different measurement approaches have been described for assessing children's activity, but no specific method can be identified as the best option for all studies. Selection of an appropriate instrument depends on the specific research question being addressed as well as the relative importance of accuracy and practicality (Baranowski & Simons-Morton, 1991). For example, accurate measures of energy expenditure using doubly-labeled water, indirect calorimetry, or heart rate calibration equations may be needed for certain clinical studies, but the cost and inconvenience would make them impractical for field-based assessments on larger samples. The "accuracy-practicality" trade-off presents a more challenging predicament with children than for adults. In adults, a number of self-report instruments have been found useful for large epidemiological studies or interventions where less precision is needed. Because of developmental differences, especially in ability to think abstractly and perform detailed recall (Going et al., 1999; Sallis, 1991), ...