MVPA in children/adolescents with chronic disease appear to be well below guideline recommendations , although comparable with activity levels of their healthy peers except for children with malignancies .
CONTEXT Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) and sedentary time ( ST )  are important for child and adolescent health .
OBJECTIVE To examine habitual levels of accelerometer measured MVPA and ST  in children and adolescents with chronic disease , and how these levels compare with healthy peers .
Calibration of the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. accelerometer.
PURPOSE We established accelerometer count ranges for the Computer Science and Applications , Inc. ( CSA ) activity monitor corresponding to commonly employed MET categories . METHODS Data were obtained from 50 adults ( 25 males , 25 females ) during treadmill exercise at three different speeds ( 4.8 , 6.4 , and 9.7 km x h(-1 ) ) . RESULTS Activity counts and steady-state oxygen consumption were highly correlated ( r = 0.88 ) , and count ranges corresponding to light , moderate , hard , and very hard intensity levels were < or = 1951 , 1952 - 5724 , 5725 - 9498 , > or = 9499 cnts x min(-1 ) , respectively . A model to predict energy expenditure from activity counts and body mass was developed using data from a r and om sample of 35 subjects ( r2 = 0.82 , SEE = 1.40 kcal x min(-1 ) ) . Cross validation with data from the remaining 15 subjects revealed no significant differences between actual and predicted energy expenditure at any treadmill speed ( SEE = 0.50 - 1.40 kcal x min(-1 ) ) . CONCLUSIONS These data provide a template on which patterns of activity can be classified into intensity levels using the CSA accelerometer
MVPA in children/adolescents with chronic disease appear to be well below guideline recommendations , although comparable with activity levels of their healthy peers except for children with malignancies .
CONTEXT Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity ( MVPA ) and sedentary time ( ST )  are important for child and adolescent health .
OBJECTIVE To examine habitual levels of accelerometer measured MVPA and ST  in children and adolescents with chronic disease , and how these levels compare with healthy peers .