82 - Males Engage in Greater Physical Activity at Age 6 Years in the INSIGHT Study

Friday, April 28, 2023

5:15 PM – 7:15 PM ET

Poster Number: 82
Publication Number: 82.149

Natalie Eichner-Seitz, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, ARLINGTON VA, VA, United States; Erika Hernandez, The Pennsylvania State University, Vestal, NY, United States; Lindsay Master, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, United States; Orfeu Buxton, Penn State, University Park, PA, United States; Jennifer Savage, Penn State University, University Park, PA, United States; Ian M. Paul, Penn State College of Medicine, Lancaster, PA, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Natalie Eichner-Seitz, PhD

Medical Student
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
ARLINGTON VA, Virginia, United States

Background:

Responsive parenting (RP), a strategy that involves prompt, developmentally appropriate responses to infant cues and needs, has been shown to positively influence child health.

Objective:

To determine if an RP intervention during infancy influences child physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) at age 6 years.

Design/Methods:

This secondary analysis includes a subset of children (N=159, 46% female, 95% White) participating in the Intervention Nurses Start Infants Growing on Healthy Trajectories (INSIGHT) Study. INSIGHT is a randomized clinical trial comparing a RP intervention designed for the primary prevention of obesity against a matched-intensity safety control. Both interventions were delivered during the first 2.5 years after birth. At age 6 years, children wore a hip actigraphy device (Actigraph GT3X+) for 7 days to measure PA and SB during waking hours. Wrist actigraphy verified sleep intervals which were subtracted from SB if overlapping. PA cut-points were as follows: (light (LPA): 101-2295 counts/minute (CPM) and moderate to vigorous (MVPA): ≥2296 CPM. Chi-square and t-tests were used to assess study group and child sex differences. Associations between health outcomes and PA were assessed using regression.

Results:

On average, children engaged in LPA for 316±48 and MVPA for 58±19 minutes per day and had 416±59 minutes per day of sedentary time, with no significant differences between study groups. Males engaged in 12 minutes more of MVPA daily than females (p< .0001), with no difference between males and females in LPA or sedentary time. 75 (45%) children met the recommended 60 minutes of daily MVPA. Males were more likely to meet MVPA recommendations than females (56% vs 49%; p=.004), with no differences by study group. Birthweight, BMIz at 3 and 6 years, maternal age, or socioeconomic factors such as maternal education status or family income did not significantly predict child PA at 6 years.

Conclusion(s):

Males at age 6 years engaged in more MVPA than females, with no effect of the early life RP intervention suggesting that interventions may need to be a) sustained to influence PA outcomes and b) tailored to reduce disparities between males and females.