• Youngwon Kim, Paul Hibbing, Pedro F Saint-Maurice, Laura D Ellingson, Erin Hennessy, Dana L Wolff-Hughes, PernaFrank MFMHealth Behaviors Research Branch, Behavioral Research Program, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland., and Gregory J Welk.
• MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Kinesiology, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Electronic address: youngwon.kim@mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk.
• Am J Prev Med. 2017 Jun 1; 52 (6): 872879872-879.

IntroductionAccurate tracking of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) is important to advance public health, but little is known about how to interpret wrist-worn accelerometer data. This study compares youth estimates of SB and moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) obtained using raw and count-based processing methods.MethodsData were collected between April and October 2014 for the National Cancer Institute's Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating Study: a cross-sectional Internet-based study of youth/family cancer prevention behaviors. A subsample of 628 adolescents (aged 12-17 years) wore the ActiGraph GT3X+ on the wrist for 7 days. In 2015-2016, SB and MVPA time were calculated from raw data using R-package GGIR and from activity counts data using published cutpoints (Crouter and Chandler). Estimates were compared across age, sex, and weight status to examine the impact of processing methods on behavioral outcomes.ResultsActiGraph data were available for 408 participants. Large differences in SB and MVPA time were observed between processing methods, but age and gender patterns were similar. Younger children (aged 12-14 years) had lower sedentary time and greater MVPA time (p-values <0.05) than older children (aged 15-17 years), consistent across methods. The proportion of youth with ≥60 minutes of MVPA/day was highest with the Crouter methods (~50%) and lowest with GGIR (~0%).ConclusionsConclusions about youth PA and SB are influenced by the wrist-worn accelerometer data processing method. Efforts to harmonize processing methods are needed to promote standardization and facilitate reporting of monitor-based PA data.Copyright © 2017 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. All rights reserved.

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