Objective: To examine the effects of early social, anthropometric, and behavioural variables on physical activity in adolescence.
Design: Prospective birth cohort study.
Setting: Pelotas, southern Brazil.
Participants: 4453 adolescents aged 10-12 years participating in the Pelotas 1993 birth cohort study (follow-up rate 87.5%).
Main outcome measures: Sedentary lifestyle (< 300 minutes of physical activity per week) and median physical activity score (minutes per week).
Results: The prevalence of a sedentary lifestyle at age 10-12 years was 58.2% (95% confidence interval 56.7% to 59.7%). Risk factors for a sedentary lifestyle in adolescence were female sex, high family income at birth, high maternal education at birth, and low birth order. Weight gain variables at ages 0-1, 1-4, and 4-11 years and overweight at age 1 or 4 years were not significant predictors of physical activity. Levels of physical activity at age 4 years, based on maternal report, were inversely related to a sedentary lifestyle at age 10-12 years.
Conclusions: Physical activity in adolescence does not seem to be programmed by physiological factors in infancy. A positive association between birth order and activity may be due to greater intensity of play in childhood and adolescence. Tracking of physical activity from age 4 to 10-12 years, however, suggests that genetic factors or early habit formation may be important.