Since MVPA is extremely low in European children and its association with obesity is known, the enhancement of MVPA should have an outstanding place and role in any health-related recommendation. The present results suggest that 1 hour/day MVPA may be an unrealistically high target for preschool children.
Following articles show further results on physical activity and fitness:
- Zaqout M, Vyncke K, Moreno LA, De Miguel-Etayo P, Lauria F, Molnar D, et al. Determinant factors of physical fitness in European children. Int J Public Health. 2016;61(5):573-82.
- Buck C, Tkaczick T, Pitsiladis Y, De Bourdehaudhuij I, Reisch L, Ahrens W, et al. Objective measures of the built environment and physical activity in children: from walkability to moveability. J Urban Health. 2015;92(1):24-38.
- Herrmann D, Buck C, Sioen I, Kouride Y, Marild S, Molnar D, et al. Impact of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and muscle strength on bone stiffness in 2-10-year-old children-cross-sectional results from the IDEFICS study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2015;12:112.
- Herrmann D, Pohlabeln H, Gianfagna F, Konstabel K, Lissner L, Marild S, et al. Association between bone stiffness and nutritional biomarkers combined with weight-bearing exercise, physical activity, and sedentary time in preadolescent children. A case-control study. Bone. 2015;78:142-9.
- De Miguel-Etayo P, Gracia-Marco L, Ortega FB, Intemann T, Foraita R, Lissner L, et al. Physical fitness reference standards in European children: the IDEFICS study. Int J Obes (Lond). 2014;38 Suppl 2:S57-66.
- Konstabel K, Veidebaum T, Verbestel V, Moreno LA, Bammann K, Tornaritis M, et al. Objectively measured physical activity in European children: the IDEFICS study. IntJObes(Lond). 2014;38 Suppl 2:S135-S43.
- Jiménez-Pavón D, Konstabel K, Bergman P, Ahrens W, Pohlabeln H, Hadjigeorgiou C, et al. Physical activity and clustered cardiovascular disease risk factors in young children: a cross-sectional study (the IDEFICS study). BMC Med. 2013;11:172. Note: This article won the BioMed Central Research Award 2013 in the category "Public Health and Health Services Research": http://events.biomedcentral.com/bmc-research-awards/
- Buck C, Pohlabeln H, Huybrechts I, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Pitsiladis Y, Reisch L, et al. Development and application of a moveability index to quantify possibilities for physical activity in the built environment of children. Health Place. 2011;17(6):1191-201.