Abstract
Background:
This study investigated physical activity and dietary intake of children aged 9–11 years, and the influence of peers on these behaviours over a 2-year period.
Methods:
A total of 106 (64 girls; 42 boys) children were investigated annually, over 2 years. Measures included physical activity (sealed pedometer), self-report measures of dietary intake and physical activity, and a peer influence questionnaire. Anthropometric measures of height and weight were also obtained.
Results:
The findings reveal insufficient energy intakes, physical activity levels and fruit and vegetable consumption but high intakes of saturated fat and sodium, over time, in both boys and girls. Both male calcium and female iron intakes were also of concern. Throughout the survey, peers were found to influence physical activity behaviour but not dietary intake.
Conclusions:
The fact that youth consistently failed to meet established nutrition and physical activity recommendations highlights the importance of promoting physical activity and healthy eating to children younger than 9 years of age. The finding that peers significantly influence physical activity behaviour over time should be considered when designing new physical activity interventions aimed at young people.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baggett H, Parkinson A, Muth P, Gold B, Gessner B (2006). Endemic iron deficiency associated with helicobacter pylori infection among school-aged children in Alaska. Pediatr 117, 396–404.
Baranowski T (1997). Families and health in action. In: Gochman D (ed). Handbook of Health Behavior Research I: Personal and Social Determinants. Plenum Press: New York, pp 179–205.
Baranowski T (2004). Why combine diet and physical activity in the same international research society? Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 1, 2.
Barfield J, Rowe D, Michael T (2004). Interinstrument consistency of the Yamax Digi-Walker pedometer in elementary school-aged children. Measur Phys Ed Exerc Sci 8, 109–116.
Bassett D, Ainsworth B, Leggett S, Mathien C, Main J, Hunter D et al. (1996). Accuracy of five electronic pedometers for measuring distance walked. Med Sci Sports Exerc 28, 1071–1077.
Berkey C, Rockett H, Gillman M, Colditz G (2003). One-year changes in activity and in inactivity among 10- to 15-year-old boys and girls: relationship to change in body mass index. Pediatr 111, 836–843.
Brown T, Summerbell C (2009). Systematic review of school-based interventions that focus on changing dietary intake and physical activity levels to prevent childhood obesity: an update to the obesity guidance produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Obes Rev 10, 110–141.
Cole T, Freeman J, Preece M (1995). Body mass index reference curves for the UK, 1990. Arch Dis Child 73, 25–29.
Cole T, Flegal K, Jackson A (2007). Body mass index cut offs to define thinness in children and adolescents: international survey. Br Med J 335, 166–167.
Cox M, Schofield G, Greasley N, Kolt G (2006). Pedometer steps in primary school-aged children: a comparison of school-based and out-of-school activity. J Sci Med Spor 9, 91–97.
Crouter S, Schneider P, Karabulut M, Bassett D (2003). Validity of 10 electronic pedometers for measuring steps, distance, and energy cost. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35, 1455–1460.
Cullen K, Rittenberry L, Olvera N, Baranowski T (2000). Environmental influences on children's diets: results from focus groups with African-, Euro- and, Mexican American children and their parents. Health Educ Res 15, 581–590.
De Bourdeaudhuij I, Van Cauwenberghe E, Spittaels H, Oppert JM, Rostami C, Brug J et al. (2010). School-based interventions promoting both physical activity and healthy eating in Europe: a systematic review within the HOPE project. Obes Rev; e-pub ahead of print, DOI: 1111/j1467-789x.2009.00711.x.
Department of Health (1991). Dietary reference values for food energy and nutrients for the United Kingdom. The Stationery Office: London.
Duncan M, Al-Nakeeb Y, Woodfield L, Lyons M (2007). Pedometer determined physical activity levels in primary school children from central England. Prev Med 44, 416–420.
Flohr J, Todd M, Tudor-Locke C (2006). Pedometer-assessed physical activity in young adolescents. Res Q Exerc Spor 77, 309–315.
French S, Story M, Hannan P, Breitlow K, Jefferey R, Baxter J et al. (1999). Cognitive and demographic correlates of low fat vending snack choices among adolescents and adults. J Am Diet Assoc 99, 471–475.
Gibson S, Lambert J, Neate D (2004). Associations between weight status, physical activity, and consumption of biscuits, cakes and confectionery among young people in Britain. Nutr B 29, 301–309.
Gordon N (2003). Iron deficiency and the intellect. Brain and Dev 25, 2–8.
Gregory J, Lowe S (2000). National diet and nutrition survey: Young people aged 4 to 18 years. The Stationary Office: London.
Harro M, Riddoch C (2000). Physical activity. In: Armstrong N, Van Mechelen W (eds). Paediatric Exercise Science and Medicine. Oxford University Press: UK, pp 77–84.
Kilanowski C, Consalvi A, Epstein L (1999). Validation of an electronic pedometer for measurement of physical activity in children. Pediatr Exerc Sci 11, 63–68.
Lien N, Lytle L, Klepp K (2001). Stability in consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugary foods in a cohort from age 14 to Age 21. Prev Med 33, 217–226.
Livingstone M, Robson P (2000). Measurement of dietary intake in children. Proc Nutr Soc 59, 279–293.
Livingstone M, Robson P, Wallace J (2004) Issues in dietary intake assessment of children and adolescents. Br J Nutr 92, 213–222.
Marcus B, Williams D, Dubbert P, Sallis J, King A, Yancey A et al. (2006). Physical activity intervention studies. Circul 114, 2739–2752.
New S, Robins S, Campbell M, Martin J, Garton M, Bolton-Smith C et al. (2000). Dietary influences on bone mass and bone metabolism: further evidence of a positive link between fruit and vegetable consumption and bone health? Am J Clin Nutr 71, 142–151.
Pan H, Cole T (2007). ImsGrowth: A Microsoft Excel add-in to access growth references based on the LMS method. Version 2.2 www.healthforallchildren.co.uk/.
Prentice A, Schoenmakers I, Laskey M, de Bono S, Ginty F, Goldberg G (2006). Nutrition and bone growth and development. Proc Nutr Soc 65, 348–360.
Prochaska J, Sallis J (2004). Reliability and validity of a fruit and vegetable screening measure for adolescents. J Adolesc Health 34, 163–165.
Riddoch C, Mattocks C, Deere K, Saunders J, Kirkby J, Tilling K et al. (2007). Objective measurement of levels and patterns of physical activity. Arch Dis Child 92, 963–969.
Rockett H, Colditz G (1997). Assessing diets of children and adolescents. Am J Clin Nutr 65, 1116–1122.
Sallis J, Grossman R, Pinski R, Patterson T, Nader P (1987). The development of scales to measure social support for diet and exercise behaviors. Prev Med 16, 825–836.
Schaben J, Joens-Matre R, Hensley L, Welk G (2004). The predictive utility of the Children's Physical Activity Correlates (CPAC) scale across multiple grade levels. Med Sci Sports Exerc 36, S47.
Schneider P, Crouter S, Lukajic O, Bassett D (2003). Accuracy and reliability of 10 pedometers for measuring steps over a 400 m walk. Med Sci Sports Exerc 35, 1779–1784.
Smithers G, Gregory J, Coward W, Wright A, Elsom R, Wenlock R (1998). British National Diet and Nutrition Survey of young people aged 4–18 years: feasibility atudy of the dietary assessment method. Eur J Clin Nutr 52, S76.
Springer A, Kelder S, Hoelscher D (2006). Social support, physical activity and sedentary behaviour among 6th grade girls: a cross-sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 3, 8.
Sweeting H (2008). Gendered dimensions of obesity in childhood and adolescence. Nutr J 71, 1.
Taylor W, Baranowski T, Sallis J (1994). Family determinants of childhood physical activity: a social-cognitive model. In: Dishman R (ed). Advances in Exercise Adherence. Champaign: Illinois, pp 319–342.
Thane C, Bates C, Prentice A (2003). Risk factors for low iron intake and poor iron status in a national sample of British young people aged 4–18 years. Pub Health Nutr 6, 485–496.
Tudor-Locke C, Pangrazi R, Corbin C, Rutherford W, Vincent S, Raustorp A et al. (2004). BMI-referenced standards for recommended pedometer-determined steps/day in children. Prev Med 38, 857–864.
Tudor-Locke C, Lee S, Morgan C, Beighle A, Pangrazi R (2006). Children's pedometer-determined physical activity during the segmented school day. Med Sci Sports Exerc 38, 1732–1738.
Woodward D, Ball P, Cumming F, Williams H, Hornsby H, Boon J (1996). Adolescent usage of selected foods in relation to their perceptions and social norms for those foods. Appetite 27, 109–117.
World Health Organization (2004). Global strategy on diet, physical activity and health. World Health Organization: Geneva.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coppinger, T., Jeanes, Y., Dabinett, J. et al. Physical activity and dietary intake of children aged 9–11 years and the influence of peers on these behaviours: a 1-year follow-up. Eur J Clin Nutr 64, 776–781 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.63
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.63
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Preadolescents’ healthy eating behavior: peeping through the social norms approach
BMC Public Health (2020)
-
Teacher and Friend Social Support: Association with Body Weight in African-American Adolescent Females
Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (2015)