Youth compendium of physical activities: Activity codes and metabolic intensities

PURPOSE: A Youth Compendium of Physical Activities (Youth Compendium) was developed to estimate the energy costs of physical activities using data on youth only. METHODS: Based on a literature search and pooled data of energy expenditure measurements in youth, the energy costs of 196 activities were compiled in 16 activity categories to form a Youth Compendium of Physical Activities. To estimate the intensity of each activity, measured oxygen consumption (V[Combining Dot Above]O2) was divided by basal metabolic rate (Schofield age-, sex- and mass-specific equations) to produce a youth MET (METy). A mixed linear model was developed for each activity category to impute missing values for age ranges with no observations for a specific activity. RESULTS: This Youth Compendium consists of METy values for 196 specific activities classified into 16 major categories for four age groups, 6-9, 10-12, 13-15, and 16-18 years. METy values in this Youth Compendium were measured (51%) or imputed (49%) from youth data. CONCLUSION: This Youth Compendium of Physical Activities uses pediatric data exclusively, addresses the age-dependency of METy and imputes missing METy values and thus represents advancement in the physical activity research and practice. This Youth Compendium will be a valuable resource for stakeholders interested in evaluating interventions, programs, and policies designed to assess and encourage physical activity in youth.