Purpose: To assess the capacity of different acceleration metrics from wrist accelerations to estimate total energy expenditure (TEE) and activity energy expenditure (AEE) using doubly labeled water in preschool children.
Methods: Thirty-nine preschoolers (5.5 ± 0.1 yr) were included. Total energy expenditure was measured using doubly labeled water during 14 d, and AEE was then calculated using a predicted basal metabolic rate. Participants wore a wGT3X-BT accelerometer on their nondominant wrist for ≥5 d. We derived the following metrics from raw accelerations: raw ActiGraph activity counts using the normal filter and the low-frequency extension; and alternate summary metrics, such as the Euclidian norm minus 1g (ENMO), Euclidian norm of the high-pass-filtered accelerations (HFEN), the bandpass-filtered accelerations, the HFEN plus Euclidean norm of low-pass filtered accelerations minus 1g (HFEN+) and the mean amplitude deviation.
Results: Alternate summary metrics explained a larger proportion of the variance in TEE and AEE than ActiGraph's activity counts (counts, 7-8 and 25% of TEE and AEE; alternate summary metrics, 13%-16% and 35%-39% of TEE and AEE). Adjustments for body weight and height resulted in an explanation of 51% of AEE by ENMO. All of the metrics adjusted for fat mass and fat-free mass explained up to 84% and 67% of TEE and AEE, respectively.
Conclusions: ENMO and the other alternate summary metrics explained more of the variance in TEE and AEE than the ActiGraph's activity counts in 5-yr-old children, suggesting further exploration of these variables in studies on physical activity and energy expenditure in preschoolers. Our results need confirmation in other populations with wider age groups and varying body compositions.