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 ) .
Depressive symptoms and physical activity in adolescent girls.
PURPOSE To evaluate the relationship between depressive symptoms and physical activity in a geographically and ethnically diverse sample of sixth- grade adolescent girls . METHODS The Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls ( TAAG ) baseline measurement included a r and om sample ( N = 1721 ) of sixth- grade girls in 36 schools at six field sites . Measurements were  accelerometry  and the 3-d Physical Activity Recall ( 3DPAR ) for  physical activity  , and the Center for Epidemiological Studies -Depression scale ( CES-D ) for depressive symptoms . RESULTS Girls with complete data ( N = 1397 ) , mean age 12 yr , had an average  CES-D score of 14.7 ( SD = 9.25 ) and engaged in an average of about 460 min of sedentary activity , < 24 min of moderate to vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) , and < 6 min of vigorous physical activity ( VPA ) in an 18-h day . Thirty-minute segments of MVPA ranged in number from 3.9 to 1.2 , and METS for these segments ranged from > 3.0 to > 6.5 . Mixed-model regression indicated no relationship between depressive symptoms and physical activity ; however , a significant but modest inverse relationship between sedentary activity and depressive symptoms was observed . CONCLUSION A sufficient sample size , st and ardized procedures , and vali date d instruments characterized this study ; however , a relationship between depressive symptoms and physical activity was not observed for sixth- grade girls from diverse geographic locations . The average CES-D score was lower than is considered clinical ly meaningful for either adolescents or adults , and MET-minutes of sedentary activity were high . This combination of data may be different from other studies and could have contributed to the unexpected finding . This unexpected finding is informative , however , because it shows the need for additional research that includes a wider range of possible combinations of data , especially with young adolescent girls
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 ) .