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Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on November 17, 2007
Health Education Research 2008 23(5):753-762; doi:10.1093/her/cyl135
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© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

A cluster-analytical approach towards physical activity and eating habits among 10-year-old children

Dieter Sabbe1,*, I. De Bourdeaudhuij2, E. Legiest1,2 and L. Maes1

1 Department of Public Health
2 Department of Sport and Movement Sciences, Ghent University, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium

* Correspondence to: L. Maes., E-mail: lea.maes{at}ugent.be

The purpose was to investigate whether clusters—based on physical activity (PA) and eating habits—can be found among children, and to explore subgroups' characteristics. A total of 1725 10-year olds completed a self-administered questionnaire. K-means cluster analysis was based on the weekly quantity of vigorous and moderate PA, the excess index (weekly consumption of sugar and/or fat) and the daily diversity index. Chi-squares tested gender differences in clusters and associations with socio-economic status (SES), overweight, controlling for gender. Following distribution was reliable: Sporty Healthy Eaters (n = 242; high vigorous PA, average moderate PA, low excess, higher diversity), Sporty Mixed Eaters (n = 288; high overall PA, very high excess, high diversity), Moderate Active Healthy Eaters (n = 221; average vigorous PA, highest moderate PA, lower excess, higher diversity), Unsporting Unhealthy Eaters (n = 276; below average on all indexes, diversity extremely low) and Sedentary Healthy Eaters (n = 318; lowest overall PA, higher excess, highest diversity). The Sporty Healthy Eaters and Sporty Mixed Eaters comprised more males, Sedentary Healthy Eaters more females. No associations with SES or overweight were found for the clusters. Co-occurrence of healthy and unhealthy behaviour exists. Only Sporty Healthy Eaters combine high levels of PA with low excess index and higher dietary diversity index. Effective ways of directing children to selective, individual relevant recommendations should be developed.

Received on September 9, 2005; accepted on September 14, 2006


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