Biological determinants of physical activity across the life course: a “Determinants of Diet and Physical Activity” (DEDIPAC) umbrella systematic literature review

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Table 5 Summary of the results of the included reviews: the importance of a determinant and its strength of evidence

Determinant	Children and adolescents	Pre-school children (overall PA)	Pre-school children (MVPA)	Children	Adolescents	Adults > 40 (overall PA)	Adults > 40 (overall ex)	Adults > 40 (overall ex/PA)	Adults < 40	All ages (≥ 18)	Rural women
Age	0, Ls [16, 19]	0, Ls [17, 22]	0, Ls [17]	0, Ls [20, 28, 29]	+, Pe [21, 28,29,30]	++, Pe [31]	−, Ls [31]	−, Pe [31]		++, Pe [23, 26, 27]	+, Ls [23]
Sex	+, Ls [16, 19]	0, Ls [17, 22]	+, Pe [17]	+, Pe [20, 21, 28, 29]	+, Pe [21, 29]	+, Pe [18, 31]				+, Pe [24,25,26,27]
Ethnicity	0, Lns [16]	0, Ls [17, 22]	0, Ls [17]	0, Ls [20, 21, 29]	0, Ls [21, 28, 29]	0, Ls [31]	−, Ls [31]			++, Pe [25]
Family risk		+, Ls [17, 22]
Maturation	0, Ls [16, 29]			0, Ls [29]
Special educational needs	0, Ls [16]
Actual BMI	0, Ls [16, 19]	−, Pe [22]		0, Lns [20, 21]	0, Ls [21, 28]			+, Ls [31]		0, Ls [23, 26]	++, Ls [23]
Health status		+, Ls [22]				++, Pe [18]	+, Ls [31]	−−, Pe [31]	++, Pe [18]	++, Pe [18, 23, 26]	++, Pe [23]
Physical fitness levels (strength, endurance, coordination, agility, flexibility)	+, Lns [29]	0, Ls [17, 22]	+, Pe [17]	0, Lns [20]		++, Ls [18]			++, Pe [18]	++, Pe [18, 23]	+, Pe [23]
Birth weight	−−, Ce [17, 34]	−, Pe [17]	0, Ls [17]							+, Ce [15]
Motor development	0, Ls [34]
Early growth	0, Ls [34]
Anthropometry/body shape	0, Lns [29]	−, Ls [17]		0, Ls [29]	−, Pe [29]
Preterm birth		+, Ls [17, 22]

Ce convincing evidence; Lns limited, no conclusive evidence; Ls limited, suggestive evidence; Pe probable evidence; BMI body mass index; Ex exercise; PA physical activity; MVPA moderate to vigorous physical activity; −− all reviews report no association between the determinant and the outcome; − association found in less than 25% of the reviews or of the original studies; 0 the variable has been found to be a determinant and/or reported a (non)-significant effect size larger than 0.30 in 25% to 75% of the available reviews or of the primary studies analyzed in these reviews; + association found in more than 75% of the reviews or of the included individual studies; ++ association found in all reviews