Peer-reviewed article
P09-02 Risks assessment related to physical activity and sedentary lifestyle profiles among French children and adolescents
El Ouadrhiri Y, Duché P, Vuillemin A, Carillo S, Pinard P et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed data from a French national food consumption survey to identify risk profiles for overweight and obesity in children and adolescents aged 11-17 years based on their physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns. The researchers defined nine different risk profiles using benchmarks of more than 60 minutes of daily physical activity and less than 20 minutes of daily sedentary time. Almost half of the children and adolescents studied fell into the highest-risk profiles, with sedentary behaviour being particularly prevalent among older adolescents, though those combining high sedentary time with high physical activity showed lower risk.
Key points
- Nine risk-based profiles were identified for children and adolescents aged 11-17 based on physical activity and sedentary behaviour thresholds
- Almost 50% of the study population fell into the highest-risk profiles, which were associated with the highest BMI values
- High sedentary behaviour (>4 hours 30 minutes daily) was more common in older adolescents
- Among highly sedentary adolescents, those with high physical activity levels were considered at lower risk
- Risk thresholds used were >60 minutes daily physical activity and >20 minutes daily sedentary time
Limitations
This study is cross-sectional and descriptive, not evaluating an intervention. The assessment relied on self-reported questionnaire data rather than objective measurement, though the authors note that accelerometer data could refine findings in future research.
Abstract
Abstract Introduction Based on Anses's report (2016)[1][1], the French Public Health Policy emphasizes on health status improvement by acting on physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Since 2016, many countries have collected results of large epidemiological studies providing new insights into the effect of physical activity- and mainly sedentary-related behaviors on health. To date, behaviors inducing the highest risks are not identified. In this context, based on the data from the most recent French Food Consumption Survey “(Inca3 2017)”[1][2], Anses aims at characterizing the overweight and obesity risks related to physical fitness regarding the levels of physical activity (PA) and sedentary (SED) daily duration of children and adolescents. Methods For 11–17 year-old children, the PA and SED behavior were collected using an adapted Youth Risk Behavior Survey questionnaire. Physical activity and sedentary duration were compared to the thresholds considered as safe (Anses 2016): PA > 60 min/day and SED 20 min/day and SED >4h30/day) were set to disaggregate the population that does not reach these benchmarks, allowing to define nine profiles regarding the associated risks identified and updated in the literature. Profiles were compared according to BMI and age using Pearson chi-square tests. All statistical analysis were performed taking into account the survey complex sampling frame design and the individual weighting. Results The preliminary results show nine risk-based profiles of children and adolescents (n = 1285) related to the risk thresholds that can be identified. The most at risk profiles represented almost 50% of the 11-17 years old and were associated with the highest BMI. The highest sedentary (>4h30) profiles were observed in the oldest adolescents. However, among them, regarding the updated literature, those having a high physical activity level were considered as at lower risk. Conclusion Finally, definition of profiles based on risk thresholds, >60 min/day and >20 min/day for PA and allows to characterize the children and adolescents the most a risk in order to enhance the effectiveness of public health policy. The risk assessment could be further refined using accelerometer real time measurement of physical activity and sedentary behavior.