Measuring Physical Activity in Children with Pedometers: Reliability, Reactivity, and Replacement of Missing Data

The study was undertaken to evaluate (a) the reliability of pedometer data and reactivity of children to wearing a pedometer, (b) the effectiveness of a missing data replacement procedure, and (c) the validity of the Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (LTEQ). Six days of pedometer data were collected from 299 middle-school children, followed by administration of the LTEQ. Six days of pedometer data were found to be adequately reliable for research into habitual physical activity ( R xx = .79) and no reactivity occurred. Inclusion of weekday and weekend scores is recommended where possible. The individualcentered data-replacement procedure did not adversely affect reliability, so this data-replacement method offers great promise to physical activity researchers who wish to maintain statistical power in their studies. The LTEQ does not appear to measure physical activity similarly to pedometers ( r = .05), and researchers should use the LTEQ with caution in children until further research explains this discrepancy. The need to develop appropriate physical activity measures for use with children is a recognized concern (12). Welk, Corbin, and Dale (30) described the unique nature of children’s physical activity that necessitates separate validity and reliability evidence for instruments used in this population. A common method of objectively measuring physical activity is the pedometer. Pedometers offer several attractive features such as unobtrusiveness, simplicity of operation, and low cost, all of which make the pedometer especially suitable for large-scale studies investigating children’s school-time and leisure-time physical activity (27). Total pedometer steps correlate moderately well with oxygen consumption in children. Eston, Rowlands, and Ingledew (10) investigated validity of the pedometer, uniaxial accelerometer, triaxial accelerometer, and heart rate monitor during various regulated, (e.g., jogging, walking) and unregulated (e.g., playing catch, crayoning) activities in 30 children. Standard errors of estimate for predicting oxygen consumption were lower for the pedometer than for the uniaxial accelerometer and heart rate monitor, but higher than for the triaxial accelerometer.

[1]  Susan D. Vincent,et al.  An Examination of the Activity Patterns of Elementary School Children , 2002 .

[2]  P. Crocker,et al.  Validation of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children , 1997 .

[3]  D. Neumark-Sztainer,et al.  Correlates of Time Spent in Physical Activity and Television Viewing in a Multi-Racial Sample of Adolescents , 2002 .

[4]  B. Ainsworth,et al.  Measuring physical activity , 2006 .

[5]  C. Sidman,et al.  Determining Measurement Error in Digital Pedometers , 2003 .

[6]  P. Crocker,et al.  Convergent Validity of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents , 1997 .

[7]  R. Eston,et al.  Validity of heart rate, pedometry, and accelerometry for predicting the energy cost of children's activities. , 1998, Journal of applied physiology.

[8]  J. Hunt.  The impact of a daily physical education program on students’ attitudes towards, and participation in, physical activity , 1995 .

[9]  B. Falk,et al.  Anaerobic power and muscle strength in young hemophilia patients. , 2000, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[10]  B E Ainsworth,et al.  Accuracy of five electronic pedometers for measuring distance walked. , 1996, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[11]  Shizuhiko Nishisato,et al.  Elements of Dual Scaling: An Introduction To Practical Data Analysis , 1993 .

[12]  Scott E Crouter,et al.  Validity of 10 electronic pedometers for measuring steps, distance, and energy cost. , 2003, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[13]  P. Crocker,et al.  Feasibility of Using the Tritrac Motion Sensor Over a 7-Day Trial with Older Children , 2001 .

[14]  T. Barstow,et al.  The level and tempo of children's physical activities: an observational study. , 1995, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[15]  J. Eisenmann,et al.  Reliability and convergent validity of the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire in rural 5th-grade school-children , 2002 .

[16]  C B Corbin,et al.  Measurement issues in the assessment of physical activity in children. , 2000, Research quarterly for exercise and sport.

[17]  Vic Barnett,et al.  Outliers in Statistical Data , 1980 .

[18]  J. Sallis,et al.  Seven-day recall and other physical activity self-reports in children and adolescents. , 1993, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[19]  David A. Rowe,et al.  Interinstrument Consistency of the Yamax Digi-Walker Pedometer in Elementary School-Aged Children , 2001 .

[20]  R. Shephard,et al.  A simple method to assess exercise behavior in the community. , 1969, Canadian journal of applied sport sciences. Journal canadien des sciences appliquees au sport.

[21]  Douglas M. Hawkins.  Identification of Outliers , 1980, Monographs on Applied Probability and Statistics.

[22]  J. Kanaley,et al.  Validation of the Godin-Shephard questionnaire in prepubertal girls. , 2002, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[23]  S G Trost,et al.  Objective Measurement of Physical Activity in Youth: Current Issues, Future Directions , 2001, Exercise and sport sciences reviews.

[24]  J. Witt,et al.  The stability of children's physical activity as measured by accelerometry and self-report. , 1995, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[25]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[26]  Susan D. Vincent,et al.  Does Reactivity Exist in Children When Measuring Activity Levels with Pedometers , 2002 .

[27]  Mina H Chung,et al.  The Relationship Between Attitude Toward Physical Education and Leisure Time Exercise in High School Students , 2002 .

[28]  Scott E Crouter,et al.  Accuracy and reliability of 10 pedometers for measuring steps over a 400-m walk. , 2003, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[29]  P. Lachenbruch.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (2nd ed.) , 1989 .

[30]  M. Hagger,et al.  Russian and British Children's Physical Self-Perceptions and Physical Activity Participation , 1998 .