Walking cadence and cardiovascular risk in children and adolescents: NHANES, 2005-2006

Background: Peak cadence (steps/minute) has been presented as an indicator of children's and adolescents' best natural daily effort.

Purpose: The goal of the study was to determine the relationship between peak walking cadence and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in children and adolescents.

Methods: Data from the 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey on accelerometer, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, BMI, and blood pressure from 1817 children and adolescents (aged 8-18 years) were analyzed in 2012. Participants were stratified based on CVD risk factors (0, 1, and ≥2) and age (8-11, 12-15, and 16-18 years). Age-specific trends were evaluated in peak 1-minute cadence (steps/minute recorded for the highest single minute in a day) and peak 30-minute and 60-minute cadence (average of the highest steps/minute recorded for the specified number of minutes, not necessarily consecutive) across strata.

Results: Across ascending age groups, peak 1-minute, 30-minute, and 60-minute cadence ranged from 123 to 111, 87 to 82, and 74 to 68 steps/minute, respectively. Peak 60-minute cadence means trended lower across groups of children with higher numbers of risk factors (p=0.02) in the age group 8-11 years; means similarly trended lower for all peak cadence indicators (all p for trend <0.01) in the age group 12-15 years; analogous trends were also significant in the age group 16-18 years.

Conclusions: Results varied with age; however, children and adolescents who on average had higher peak cadence indicators tended to have fewer CVD risk factors. These cross-sectional data suggest that a simple indicator of best natural daily effort may play an important role in early progression of unfavorable cardiometabolic health.