ABSTRACT
Parfitt and Eston (2005) was the first study to use pedometers to objectively measure activity and investigate the relationship between children’s habitual activity levels and psychological well-being. Correlation analyses revealed that habitual physical activity had a strong positive association with global self-esteem (r = 0.66, p < 0.01), and negative associations with depression (r = −0.60, p < 0.01) and anxiety (r = −0.48, p < 0.01). When groups were created based upon activity level, children achieving >12,000 steps/day had more positive psychological profiles than children achieving <9200 steps/day. There were limitations in the Parfitt and Eston (2005) study as only global self-esteem was measured. There was an inability to measure and discuss the intensity of the accrued physical activity and the recorded results could be accounted for by factors not assessed, including, socio-economic status.
