Zan Gao, Ph.D., Kinesiology associate professor and director of the Physical Activity Epidemiology Laboratory, is sole author on a research article recently published in Childhood Obesity (impact factor 2.53). The study, “Growth Trajectories of Young Children’s Objectively Determined Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior, and Body Mass Index,” investigated trajectories in children’s physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior, and body mass index (BMI) for both genders, and relationships among these trajectories, from childhood through early adolescence.

A total of 261 second- and third-grade children from two U.S. elementary schools participated in the study. Their objective PA, sedentary behavior, and BMI were measured yearly from 2012 to 2015. The outcome variables were accelerometer-determined daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), sedentary behavior, and BMI—calculated as height divided by weight squared. The study found that maintaining or increasing MVPA and limiting sedentary behavior should be components of efforts to prevent excess weight gain during the transition from childhood to early adolescence. Children’s MVPA and sedentary behavior are independent determinants of BMI changes.