Youth Activity Profile

Overview

he Youth Activity Profile (YAP) is a self-report instrument designed to facilitate the collection of physical activity in schools (for both assessment and education purposes). The instrument was developed by our team and calibrated through a series of studies led by a former Ph.D. student (Dr. Pedro Saint Maurice) as part of his dissertation research. An online version of the YAP was developed to facilitate use by schools and an NIH funded study by the lab replicated the calibration process with the online tool. It is now being deployed within the national FitnessGram program and collaborations with the national Active Schools program will enable schools to access the customized online tool.

To try out the demo application go to www.youthactivityprofile.org and select Demo (You will need to type in the word "Demo" to access the tool)

Ongoing Calibration Work

The innovative aspect of the Youth Activity Profile is that the items are calibrated to provide accurate estimates of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior. The figure at right shows the concept of calibration and the overall level of agreement for assessing PA in different segments of the day.

The calibration models are currently being refined in the ongoing Youth Physical Activity Measurement Study. Details on the project are available at www.youthactivitystudy.com

Additional information is available from Dr. Greg Welk (gwelk@iastate.edu).

Research Publications Related to the Youth Activity Profile

  1. Welk, G. J., Saint-Maurice, P. F., Kim, Y., Ellingson, L. D., Hibbing, P., Wolff-Hughes, D. L., & Perna, F. M. (2017). Understanding and interpreting error in physical activity data: insights from the FLASHE study. American journal of preventive medicine, 52(6), 836-838.
  2. Saint-Maurice, P. F., Kim, Y., Hibbing, P., Oh, A. Y., Perna, F. M., & Welk, G. J. (2017). Calibration and validation of the Youth Activity Profile: the FLASHE study. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52(6), 880-887.
  3. Saint-Maurice, P. F., Welk, G. J., Bartee, R. T., & Heelan, K. (2016). Calibration of context-specific survey items to assess youth physical activity behaviour. Journal of Sports Sciences, June 1-7.
  4. Saint-Maurice, P. F., Kim, Y., & Welk, G. J. (2016). Evidence for data missing at random in youth physical activity monitoring research. Journal of Sports Sciences, April: 1-7.
  5. Saint-Maurice, P. F., Kim, Y., Welk, G. J., & Gaesser, G. A. (2016). Kids are not little adults: what MET threshold captures sedentary behavior in children? European Journal of Applied Physiology, 116(1), 29-38.
  6. Saint-Maurice, P. F., & Welk, G. J. (2015). Validity and Calibration of the Youth Activity Profile. PloS one, 10(12).
  7. Saint-Maurice, P. F., Welk, G. J., Beyler, N. K., Bartee, R. T., & Heelan, K. A. (2014). Calibration of self-report tools for physical activity research: the Physical Activity Questionnaire (PAQ). BMC Public Health, 14(1), 461. PMID: 24886625