A 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: On the basis of 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˙O(2)) was divided by basal metabolic rate (Schofield age-, sex-, and mass-specific equations) to produce a youth MET (MET(y)). 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 MET(y) values for 196 specific activities classified into 16 major categories for four age-groups, 6–9, 10–12, 13–15, and 16–18 yr. MET(y) 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 MET(y), and imputes missing MET(y) values and thus represents advancement in 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.