ArticleBMC pediatrics2017
School-time physical activity among Arab elementary school children in Qatar.
Article in BMC pediatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- How to Reduce Physical Inactivity in School Context? A Systematic Review of the Concept of Body Practices.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Pooled it
- Sexual dimorphism of leptin and adiposity in children between 0 and 10 years: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Biology of sex differences · 2022Pooled it
- Global Prevalence of Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep of Immigrant Children: a Systematic Review.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2021Pooled it
- Physical activity and sedentary time of youth in structured settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2020Pooled it
- Levels of Physical Activity during School Hours in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Association of the healthy eating index with overweight and obesity among children aged 4 to 9 years in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Observational
- Differences in Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, Health-Related Physical Performance Indices and Academic Achievement: A Comparative Study of Normal-Weight and Obese Children in Qatar.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- A Longitudinal Examination of Withholding All or Part of School Recess on Children's Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: Evidence from a Natural Experiment.Early childhood education journal · 2023Article
- The Impact of the COVID-19 Lockdown "Home Quarantine" on the Physical Activity and Lifestyle of Children in Qatar.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 School Closure on Child and Adolescent Health: A Rapid Systematic Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Accelerometer measured physical activity patterns of children during segmented school day in Abu Dhabi.BMC pediatrics · 2021Article
- Objectively Assessed Physical Activity of Preschool-Aged Children from Urban Areas.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Article
- A comparison of nutritional intake and daily physical activity of girls aged 8-11 years old in Makkah, Saudi Arabia according to weight status.BMC public health · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent data from a self-administered questionnaire show that approximately 75% of school children in Qatar do not meet the daily recommended levels of physical activity (PA). Since children spend half of their waking hours in school, it is important to understand when and how much PA children accumulate during the school day. This study aimed to objectively assess school-time PA among elementary school children in Qatar and to determine association of PA with age, gender, body mass index (BMI) status, or day of the week.
methodsA cross-sectional epidemiological study was conducted in four randomly selected elementary schools in Qatar. Two classes representing grade 1 children (age 5) and grade 4 children (age 9) were randomly selected within each school. A total of 183 elementary school children (86 boys and 97 girls) ages 6-12 years participated in this study. PA was assessed using a three-axial accelerometer (ActiGraph® wGT3X-BT). Participants wore accelerometers on their non-dominant wrist at school (7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.) for five consecutive school days during the week. A cutoff points of 818 counts per 5 s was classified as moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA).
resultsThe average duration of MVPA in our study was 28.2 ± 13.5 min per day. Only 39% of participated children reach the recommended school-based MVPA of 30 min or more per day. Students spent on average 58.1 ± 8.4% of school time on sedentary activities. MVPA of boys and girls was similar in age 5 while girls age 9 were less active (23.7 ± 1.5 min/day) than boys of the same age (42.7 ± 1.8 min/day), ES = 0.269, P < 0.001. Neither overweight children nor children at risk for being overweight showed any differences in physical activity parameters when compared to children of normal weight. Our results showed, percentage of MVPA on the first (7.7 ± 5.1%) and last (7.1 ± 4.1%) day of the week was generally lower compared to other weekdays (P < 0.001).
conclusionThis was the first study to objectively assess PA during school hours among elementary school-children in Qatar. This study found that many of school children do not perform sufficient time being physically active at school. All students in two age categories (age 5 and age 9) spend the majority of school time engaged in sedentary activities. The low participation of girls age 9 in MVPA is a cause for concern and need to be addressed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.