Physical activity, overweight and central adiposity in Swedish children and adolescents: the European Youth Heart Study

Table 1 Characteristics of the study subjects by sex and age group.

	Children		Adolescents
	Boys (n = 269)	Girls (n = 288)	Boys (n = 238)	Girls (n = 279)
Age (y)	9.5 ± 0.3	9.5 ± 0.4	15.6 ± 0.4	15.5 ± 0.4
Sexual maturation status (%): *†
Pre-pubescents (Stage 1)	98.4	57.6	0.5	0
Pubescents (Stages 2, 3 and 4)	1.6	42.4	16.3	45.7
Post-pubescents (Stage 5)	0	0	83.3	54.3
Weight (Kg) *†	33.4 ± 6.2	33.7 ± 6.7	64.2 ± 10.7	57.8 ± 8.8
Height (m) *†	1.4 ± 0.1	1.4 ± 0.1	1.8 ± 0.1	1.6 ± 0.1 21.2 ± 2.7
Body mass index (Kg/m²) †	17.2 ± 2.4	17.3 ± 2.4	20.7 ± 2.8
Overweight/obesity (%) §	13.4	17.7	12.5	12.7
Waist circumference (cm) *†	60.7 ± 6.0	60.2 ± 6.1	73.8 ± 7.1	70.0 ± 6.7
High-risk waist circumference (%) ‡II	27.2	28.6	17.4	30.1
Percentage body fat *†	16.1 ± 6.3	18.6 ± 5.6	14.0 ± 6.5	23.4 ± 5.5
Total amount of PA (counts/min) *†	805 ± 259	665 ± 189	557 ± 199	490 ± 154
Moderate PA (min/d) *†	185 ± 50	159 ± 41	65 ± 31	58 ± 22
Vigorous PA (min/d) *†	35 ± 23	24 ± 15	16 ± 12	11 ± 10
MVPA (min/d) *†	220 ± 65	182 ± 51	81 ± 38	69 ± 28
Meeting PA recommendations:
≥ 60 min/day of MVPA (%) *†	99.0	99.6	70.1	60.2

Data shown as mean ± standard deviation, unless otherwise stated. PA, physical activity; MVPA, moderate-vigorous PA. Sex differences (*) and age group differences (†) were analysed by Chi-square tests (nominal variables) or two-way ANOVA (continuous variables). ‡ Sex differences were found only in adolescents. §International Obesity Task Force body mass index cut-off values. II Waist circumference cut-off values for predicting risk factor clustering, as proposed by Bogalusa Heart Study

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