Macronutrient intake and relations to physical activity and sedentary behaviour in 10-11 year old children: The CHANGE! Project

Prolonged sedentary (SED) behaviour, and low levels of physical activity (PA), are independently and positively associated with all-cause mortality and risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus(1,2). Furthermore, a high energy intake and increased consumption of dietary fat, carbohydrates and sugars increases risk of obesity, and associated chronic disease, including CVD and cancer(3,4). The combination of these unhealthy behaviours therefore increases overall risk for these diseases. The aims of this cross sectional study were to assess the relationships of PA, and SED, with total energy and macronutrient intake in 10 to 11 year old children. Participants (n = 55) were recruited from 11 primary schools from a North West English town, of those 40 provided complete data sets for all measures (mean age = 10.6, SD = 0.28 years). Habitual PA was measured using 7 day accelerometry, cut points were >2160 counts per minute for moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) and0.05). In conclusion, correlations exist between SED and total energy intake and PUFA. Furthermore total PA and total energy are correlated. The combination of these unhealthy behaviours needs addressing since it is known that clustering of unhealthy behaviours increase overall risk of chronic disease(1-4). Furthermore behaviour established in childhood is likely to track into adulthood, further increasing risk later in life(5). Further investigation is warranted.