Socioeconomic and ethnic differences in children’s vigorous intensity physical activity: a cross-sectional analysis of the UK Millennium Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate if daily vigorous physical activity (VPA), adjusted for minutes of moderate physical activity (MPA) performed, differs by socioeconomic position or ethnicity in a large sample of UK children with objectively measured physical activity. DESIGN: Nationally representative prospective cohort study. SETTING: UK children born between 2000 and 2002. PARTICIPANTS: 5172 children aged 7-8 with valid accelerometer data for ≥10 hour on ≥3 days, including 1 weekend day. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Time spent in VPA (>3841 counts per min). EXPLANATORY MEASURES: Maternal education, annual household Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development equivalised income, ethnicity. RESULTS: Multivariable linear regression models fitted to explore differences in average daily minutes of VPA (adjusted for MPA, mean accelerometer wear time, season of measurement,…