Temperament, physical activity and sedentary time in preschoolers – the DAGIS study

BMC Pediatrics

Table 1 Descriptive characteristics of participating children

	All		Boys		Girls		P^f
	N	Mean ± SD	N	Mean ± SD	N	Mean ± SD
Age (years)	697	4.7 ± 0.89	360	4.7 ± 0.88	337	4.7 ± 0.91	0.41
Height (cm)	662	109.4 ± 7.87	334	110.4 ± 7.93	328	108.5 ± 7.70	0.002
Weight (kg)	660	19.1 ± 3.45	333	19.5 ± 3.57	327	18.7 ± 3.29	0.005
BMI-SDS^a (kg/m²)	661	−0.05 ± 0.98	334	− 0.05 ± 1.00	327	−0.06 ± 0.95	0.94
Overweight or obese^b (N, %)	661	77 (11.6)	334	37 (11.1)	327	40 (12.2)	0.64
Parental education level^c (N, %)	694		360		334		0.29
Low		152 (21.9)		81 (22.5)		71 (21.3)
Middle		297 (42.8)		144 (40.0)		153 (45.8)
High		245 (35.3)		135 (37.5)		110 (32.9)
Research season^d (N, %)	697		360		337		0.76
Fall		308 (44.2)		160 (44.4)		148 (43.9)
Winter		248 (35.6)		131 (36.4)		117 (34.7)
Spring		141 (20.2)		69 (19.2)		72 (21.4)
Temperament (7-point Likert scale)
Surgency	697	4.7 ± 0.86	360	4.8 ± 0.83	377	4.6 ± 0.88	0.007
Negative affectivity	697	3.7 ± 0.86	360	3.7 ± 0.85	377	3.7 ± 0.88	0.66
Effortful control	697	5.2 ± 0.73	360	5.0 ± 0.72	377	5.4 ± 0.68	< 0.001
PA and SED (min/day)
Awake wearing time	697	773.7 ± 34.38	360	774.6 ± 33.75	377	772.7 ± 35.06	0.45
SED	697	382.9 ± 45.00	360	377.7 ± 44.24	377	388.5 ± 45.20	0.001
LPA	697	304.5 ± 31.63	360	304.6 ± 31.62	377	304.5 ± 31.58	0.95
MPA	697	61.3 ± 16.16	360	65.4 ± 15.79	377	56.9 ± 15.39	< 0.001
VPA	697	24.4 ± 11.28	360	26.5 ± 12.02	377	22.2 ± 9.98	< 0.001
Meeting the PA recommendation^e (N, %)	697	586 (84.1)	360	322 (89.4)	377	264 (78.3)	< 0.001

BMI-SDS body mass index standard deviation score, LPA light-intensity physical activity, MPA moderate-intensity physical activity, PA physical activity, SED sedentary time, VPA vigorous-intensity physical activity
^a According to Saari et al. [20]
^b According to Cole and Lobstein [21]
^c Low educational level included comprehensive, vocation, or high school; middle educational level included bachelor’s degree or college; and high educational level included master’s degree or licentiate/doctorate
^d Fall was defined as September–October, winter was defined as November–December, and spring was defined as January–April
^e The PA recommendation was defined as having PA at least 180 min/day of which at least 60 min/day in moderate-to-vigorous PA
^f T-test for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorized variables. Significant values are bolded

ISSN: 1471-2431