SynthesisThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2021
Physical activity and prospective associations with indicators of health and development in children aged <5 years: a systematic review.
Synthesis in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 7 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
43 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 81 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association Between Physical Activity and Indicators of Overweight/Obesity and Metabolically Unhealthy Obesity Risk in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Prospective Epidemiological Studies and Randomized Controlled Trials in Western Countries.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026Pooled it
- Reviewing the association between motor competence and physical activity from a behavioral genetic perspective.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Which behaviour change techniques are associated with interventions that increase physical activity in pre-school children? A systematic review.BMC public health · 2023Pooled it
- Assessing Affective Valence and Activation in Stretching Activities with the Feeling Scale and the Felt Arousal Scale: A Systematic Review.Perceptual and motor skills · 2023Pooled it
- Correlates of Physical Activity in 0- to 5-year-olds: A Systematic Umbrella Review and Consultation of International Researchers.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Pooled it
- Global Changes in Child and Adolescent Physical Activity During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of proxy-report questionnaires assessing physical activity, sedentary behavior and/or sleep in young children (aged 0-5 years).The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2022Pooled it
- Temporal Associations of Physical Activity Volume, Intensity, and Timing With Sleep in Preschool-Aged Children.Journal of sleep research · 2026Trial
- A cross-sectional study assessing modifications to the delivery of a multi-component implementation strategy (the Get Outside, Get Active program) to improve child physical activity in early childhood education and care services.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025Trial
- Impact of the 'Healthy Youngsters, Healthy Dads' program on physical activity and other health behaviours: a randomised controlled trial involving fathers and their preschool-aged children.BMC public health · 2022Trial
- Physical Fitness in Czech Preschool Children: Age-Related Trends Assessed Using the PREFIT Battery.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Anthropometric Indicators and Their Relationship with Physical Activity and Enjoyment in Childhood.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026Article
- Overprotective parenting and preschoolers' physical activity and screen time: cross-sectional findings from the DAGIS survey.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2026Article
- Parental depressive symptoms link family income to preschool child mental health in Western China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Bidirectional, prospective associations between physical activity, fundamental motor skills, and physical fitness in preschool children.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Early Life Physical Activity Patterns and Its Survival to Adult Activity Levels: The Longitudinal ABIS Study.Sports medicine - open · 2025Article
- The needs of parents and their network to influence physical activity and motor development among children 0-to-4-years old: a mixed-methods study protocol.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between 24-hour movement behaviors and growth, motor, and social-emotional development in early childhood.Journal of activity, sedentary and sleep behaviors · 2025Article
- Association between pediatric obesity and foot morphology: insights from a large-scale cross-sectional study using photogrammetry.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEarly childhood is a critical period for growth and development, yet the association with physical activity during this important period is unknown. The aim of this review is to critically summarize the evidence on the prospective associations between physical activity and health and development in children aged < 5 years.
methodsA systematic search in three electronic databases (Pubmed, PsycINFO, and Sportdiscus) was conducted to identify prospective studies examining the associations between physical activity (all types; specified by quantity) and health indicators (body composition, cardiometabolic health, bone health and risks/harm) or development (motor, cognitive and social-emotional development) in young children (mean age < 5 years at baseline). Two independent researchers assessed the methodological quality using the 'Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies' (EPHPP). This tool covers eight quality criteria: selection bias, study design, confounders, blinding, data collection methods, withdrawals and drop-outs, intervention integrity and data-analysis.
resultsThirty-nine studies, predominantly conducted in preschoolers (ages 3-5 years), were included of which nine were rated as high methodological quality. There was moderate evidence for a positive association between physical activity and motor (n = 11 studies) and cognitive development (n = 10 studies) based on consistent findings from studies having low-to-moderate methodological quality. There was insufficient evidence for an association between physical activity and body composition (n = 15 studies), cardiometabolic health indicators (n = 7 studies), social-emotional development (n = 2 studies) and bone health (n = 2 studies) based on inconsistent findings from studies having weak-to-high methodological quality.
conclusionsThere is a need for more high-quality research in order to determine the dose-response relationship between physical activity and health and development in early childhood. Special attention should be paid to studies in children below the age of 3 years.
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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.