Challenges of collecting physical activity data

This assignment will give you an opportunity to experience the challenges of collecting physical activity data, and to gain personal insights about your own activity lifestyles. Use the Physical Activity Record Form in Appendix B (Table B-2) to record your daily activities over a 24-hour period. Record whenever you have activities in 15 minutes segments. Use the following directions to help perform your calculations as needed: In order to perform calculations for the activity record, you will have to determine the caloric value of 0.9 -9 METs. One (1) Metabolic EquivalenT (MET) is approximately equal to an individual’s resting metabolic rate – 1 kcal/kg body weight/hour. The Physical Activity Record Form provides a table to do the MET calculation and to determine the caloric value in 15-minute segments, which is the interval used in recording physical activity. Each activity you record on the form must be classified by the MET value. More exerting activities have higher MET classifications and less exerting activities have lower MET classifications. Sleeping is equal to 0.9 kcal/kg/hour. Table 3 in Appendix B provides the MET value of several dozen activities to help students assign a MET value to each activity. To calculate caloric output, you will assign a MET value to each 15-minute interval. For example, sleeping from midnight until 1:00 AM would result in four (4) 15-minute segments at the 0.9 MET level, so “4” would be written under the 0.9 column. Driving to the gym from 7:00 AM – 7:30 AM would result in two (2) segments at the 2 MET level; using a rowing machine with light effort from 7:30 AM – 8:00 AM would result in two (2) segments at the 3.5 MET level. Because there is no column labeled “3.5” students would have to make a notation on the record form. Submit the following: Once MET levels have been assigned to all segments of the 24-hour period, you will: Total each MET column; Put the 15-minute caloric value of each MET level in the appropriate boxes; Multiply the 15-minute caloric value of each MET level by the number of times they were at that MET level; Record the subtotal caloric output; Add subtotals to get an estimate of total energy expenditure for the 24-hour period. Use this equation to calculate your 15 minutes caloric value: MET value multiplied by weight in kilograms tells you calories burned per hour (MET*weight in kg=calories/hour). If you only want to know how many calories you burned in 15 minutes, divide that number by four. E.g. if a 175-pound person were to play competitive soccer (MET value of 10) for one hour, the equation for calories burned would be: 79.38 kg*10=793.8 calories/hour. For 15 minutes, 793.8/4 =198.45. Focus on these questions: What kinds of difficulties did you have using the physical activity record? How these difficulties might be overcome with clients? What surprised you about your estimated caloric expenditure? To what do you attribute your estimated caloric expenditure if it was higher than you expected? Students who wear a pedometer or accelerometer could comment further on how those results compared with results from the physical activity record