Overall , total PA was favourably associated with physical , psychological/social , and cognitive health indicators .
Relationships were more consistent and robust for higher ( e.g. , MVPA ) versus lower ( e.g. , LPA ) intensity PA .
All patterns of activity ( sporadic , bouts , continuous ) provided benefit .
LPA was favourably associated with cardiometabolic biomarkers ; data were scarce for other outcomes .
These findings continue to support the importance of at least 60 min/day of MVPA for disease prevention and health promotion in children and youth , but also highlight the potential benefits of LPA and total PA .
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) is essential for disease prevention and health promotion .
Emerging evidence suggests other intensities of physical activity ( PA ) , including light-intensity activity ( LPA ) , may also be important , but there has been no rigorous evaluation of the evidence .
The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the relationships between objective ly measured PA ( total and all intensities ) and health indicators in school-aged children and youth .
Online data bases were search ed for peer- review ed studies that met the a priori inclusion criteria : population ( apparently healthy , aged 5 - 17 years ) , intervention/exposure/comparator ( volumes , duration s , frequencies , intensities , and patterns of objective ly measured PA ) , and outcome ( body composition , cardiometabolic biomarkers , physical fitness , behavioural conduct/pro-social behaviour , cognition/academic achievement , quality of life/well-being , harms , bone health , motor skill development , psychological distress , self-esteem ) .
Prospective associations between objective measures of physical activity and fat mass in 12-14 year old children: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)
Objective To investigate associations between physical activity at age 12 and subsequent adiposity at age 14 . Design Prospect i ve birth cohort study with data collected between 2003 and 2007 . Setting Original recruitment in 1991 - 2 of 14 541 pregnant women living in the former County of Avon ( United Kingdom ) . Participants At age 12 , 11 952 children were invited to attend the research clinic . Of these , 7159 attended , and 4150 ( 1964 boys , 2186 girls ) provided sufficient data on exposure , outcome , and confounding variables . Main outcome measure Fat mass at age 14 , measured by dual emission x ray absorptiometry , associated with physical activity at age 12 , measured by accelerometry . Results Prospect i ve associations of fat mass at age 14 ( outcome ) with physical activity at age 12 ( exposure ) were strong for both  total activity ( accelerometer counts/min ) and for daily amount of moderate-vigorous physical activity  ( min/day ) . An extra 15 minutes of moderate-vigorous physical activity per day at age 12 was associated with lower fat mass at age 14 in boys ( by 11.9 % ( 95 % confidence interval 9.5 % to 14.3 % ) ) and girls ( by 9.8 % ( 6.7 % to 12.8 % ) ) . The proportion of physical activity due to moderate-vigorous physical activity was between 20 % and 30 % in boys and girls at the two ages . Conclusions Higher levels of physical activity , in particular activity of moderate to higher intensities , are prospect ively associated with lower levels of fat mass in early adolescence . Interventions to raise levels of physical activity in children are likely to be important in the fight against obesity
Overall , total PA was favourably associated with physical , psychological/social , and cognitive health indicators .
Relationships were more consistent and robust for higher ( e.g. , MVPA ) versus lower ( e.g. , LPA ) intensity PA .
All patterns of activity ( sporadic , bouts , continuous ) provided benefit .
LPA was favourably associated with cardiometabolic biomarkers ; data were scarce for other outcomes .
These findings continue to support the importance of at least 60 min/day of MVPA for disease prevention and health promotion in children and youth , but also highlight the potential benefits of LPA and total PA .
Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) is essential for disease prevention and health promotion .
Emerging evidence suggests other intensities of physical activity ( PA ) , including light-intensity activity ( LPA ) , may also be important , but there has been no rigorous evaluation of the evidence .
The purpose of this systematic review was to examine the relationships between objective ly measured PA ( total and all intensities ) and health indicators in school-aged children and youth .
Online data bases were search ed for peer- review ed studies that met the a priori inclusion criteria : population ( apparently healthy , aged 5 - 17 years ) , intervention/exposure/comparator ( volumes , duration s , frequencies , intensities , and patterns of objective ly measured PA ) , and outcome ( body composition , cardiometabolic biomarkers , physical fitness , behavioural conduct/pro-social behaviour , cognition/academic achievement , quality of life/well-being , harms , bone health , motor skill development , psychological distress , self-esteem ) .