TY  - JOUR
AU  - Machado-Rodrigues, Aristides.M.
AU  - Rodrigues, Daniela
AU  - da Silva, Thales.P.R.
AU  - Mendes, Larissa
AU  - Silva, Pedro
AU  - Nogueira, Helena
AU  - Gama, Augusta
AU  - Padez, Cristina
PY  - 2026
TI  - Variability in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity assessment: Comparing tri-axial accelerometry cut-off points in children
JO  - Sports Medicine and Health Science
SN  - 2097-6291
SP  - 440
EP  - 448
VL  - 8
IS  - 4
AB  - The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the most frequently used cut-points (CoPs) on quantification of active children, as well as to analyse children physical activity (PA) quantification using vertical axis and vector magnitude (VM).The sample comprised 303 children (160 girls) aged 6 years–10 years. Height, weight and BMI were assessed to control for confounding variables related to PA levels. The tri-axial accelerometer was used for seven consecutive days of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary behaviour (SB); especific pediatric cut-points for children (Evenson; Freedson; Puyau; Pulsford; and Mattocks) were used. A general linear model was used; the agreements of all CoPs were analyzed by Kappa index.Freedson CoPs presented the highest percentage of active children (100%) for males and females during the weekdays, weekend, and for total assessed days. The Mattocks CoPs revealed the lowest proportion of active children for the weekdays (2.97%), weekend days (3.30%), and for the seven assessed days (1.65%).The interpretation of accelerometer results must be critiqued in respect to whether children are meeting publicly adopted PA guidelines. The growing variety of analytical approaches and CoPs employed to analyse and evaluate accelerometer data in children makes it difficult to compare findings across different studies.
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smhs.2025.02.008
DO  - 10.1016/j.smhs.2025.02.008