A balanced diet and sufficient physical activity are essential for the healthy growth of children and adolescents and for obesity prevention. Data from the second wave of the population-based German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS Wave 2; 2014–2017) were used to analyse the association between food intake and physical activity among 6- to 17-year-old children and adolescents (n = 9842). Physical exercise (PE) and recommended daily physical activity (RDPA) were assessed with self-administered questionnaires and food intake by a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used to analyse the association between food group intake (dependent variable) and level of PE or RDPA. High levels of physical activity (PE or RDPA) were associated with higher consumption of juice, water, milk, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables among both boys and girls, and among boys with a higher intake of bread, potatoes/pasta/rice, meat, and cereals. Higher PE levels were also less likely to be associated with a high soft drink intake. High levels of RDPA were associated with high intake of energy-dense foods among boys, which was not observed for PE. This study indicates that school-aged children and adolescents with higher levels of physical activity consume more beneficial foods and beverages compared to those with lower physical activity levels.

Increasing physical activity and reduction of sedentary behaviour play important roles in health promotion and prevention of lifestyle-related diseases in children and adolescents. However, the question of how much physical activity is useful for which target group is still a matter of debate. International guidelines (World Health Organization; European Association for the Study of Obesity), which are mainly based on expert opinions, recommend 60 min of physical activity every day. Age- and sex-specific features and regional differences are not taken into account. Therefore, expert consensus recommendations for promoting physical activity of children and adolescents in Germany were developed with special respect to national data, but also with respect to aspects of specific target groups, e.g., children with a lower socio-economic status (SES) or with migration background. They propose 90 min/day of physical activity, or at least 12,000 steps daily. Additionally, lifestyle factors, especially restriction of media consumption, were integrated. The recommendations provide orientation for parents and caregivers, for institutions such as schools and kindergartens as well as for communities and stakeholders.

Social inequalities in health can be explained in part by the social patterning of leisure-time physical activity, such as non-participation in sports. This study is the first to explore whether absolute and relative educational inequalities in sporting inactivity among adults have changed in Germany since the early 2000s. Data from four cross-sectional national health surveys conducted in 2003 (n = 6890), 2009 (n = 16,418), 2010 (n = 17,145) and 2012 (n = 13,744) were analysed. The study population was aged 25–69 years in each survey. Sporting inactivity was defined as no sports participation during the preceding 3 months. The regression-based Slope Index of Inequality (SII) and Relative Index of Inequality (RII) were calculated to estimate the extent of absolute and relative educational inequalities in sporting inactivity, respectively. Sporting inactivity was consistently more prevalent in less-educated groups. The overall prevalence of sporting inactivity declined significantly over time. However, the decline was observed only in the high and medium education groups, while no change was observed in the low education group. Both absolute and relative educational inequalities in sporting inactivity were found to have widened significantly between 2003 (SII = 0.30, 95% CI = 0.25–0.35; RII = 2.08, 95% CI = 1.83–2.38) and 2012 (SII = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.37–0.45; RII = 3.44, 95% CI = 3.03–3.91). Interaction analysis showed that these increases in inequalities were larger in the younger population under the age of 50 than among the elderly. The findings suggest that the gap in sports participation between adults with high and low educational attainment has widened in both absolute and relative terms because of an increase in sports participation among the better educated. Health-enhancing physical activity interventions specifically targeted to less-educated younger adults are needed to prevent future increases in social inequalities in health.

Background: As children show a more complex but less structured movement behavior than adults, assessment of their many spontaneous and impulsive movements is a challenge for physical activity (PA) assessment. Since neither questionnaires nor accelerometers enable optimal detection of all facets of PA, a multimodal, combined approach of self-reported and device-based methods is recommended. Based on the number of days on which the participants reached the physical activity (PA) values given in the WHO guideline, this study examines 1) the difference between self-reported and device-based, measured PA and 2) whether PA differences between age and gender groups obtained by two methods are comparable. Methods: Participants aged 6–17 years were randomly chosen and data were collected representatively at 167 sample points throughout Germany within the Motorik-Modul Study. PA of n = 2694 participants (52.3% female) was measured using the ActiGraph accelerometer (ACC) and a physical activity questionnaire (PAQ). The sample was divided into three age groups (6–10 yrs. n = 788, 11–13 yrs. n = 823, 14–17 yrs. n = 1083). Numbers of days per week with at least 60 min moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) were analyzed for both methods. Results: Only every 25th respondent (4%) reaches the WHO standard of 60 min MVPA every day if measured with ACC. Self-reported PA was slightly higher (9%) (mean_PAQ = 3.82 days; mean_ACC = 2.34 days; F_method = 915.85; p = <.001; f_Cohen = .64). The differences between the methods are significantly smaller in younger children than in the older age groups (F_age = 264.2, p < .001; f_Cohen = .48). The older the subjects are, the lower is the proportion of those who meet the WHO guideline on each day, with girls meeting the guideline less frequently than boys in all age groups. Conclusion: Children and adolescents living in Germany show a very low adherence to the WHO guideline on PA. While younger children are much more active with their free play, especially children over 10 years of age and especially girls should be the target of programs to increase PA.

Organised sports (OS) participation is an important health behaviour but it seems to decline from childhood to adolescence. The aim of this study was to investigate OS participation patterns from childhood to adolescence and potential determinants for those patterns. Data from the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) cohort study with a 6 year follow-up period were used (KiGGS0: 2003-06, KiGGS1: 2009-12). Participants aged 6–10 years at KiGGS0, who were aged 12–16 at KiGGS1, were included (n = 3790). The outcome variable was ‘OS participation’ between KiGGS0 and KiGGS1 with the categories ‘maintenance’ (reference), ‘dropout’, ‘commencement’ and ‘nonparticipation’. Relative risk ratios (RRRs) were calculated using multinomial logistic regression to identify potential predictors for OS patterns. Socio-demographic, family-related, health-related, behavioural and environmental factors were considered as independent variables. 48.5 % maintained OS, 20.5 % dropped out, 12.3 % commenced OS between KiGGS0 and KiGGS1 and 18.7 % did not participate at both times. The RRRs for dropout rather than maintenance were 0.6 (95 % Cl 0.5–0.7) for boys versus girls, 1.5 (1.3–1.9) for the age group 8–10 versus 6–7 years, 0.7 (0.5–0.9) for high versus intermediate parental education, 1.4 (1.1–1.8) for low versus middle household income, 1.4 (1.0–1.8) for below-average versus average motor fitness. The RRRs for commencement rather than maintenance were 0.6 (0.5–0.8) for boys versus girls, 0.6 (0.5–0.8) for the age group 8–10 versus 6–7 years, 1.5 (1.1–2.1) for low versus intermediate parental education, 1.5 (1.1–2.0) for low versus middle household income, 0.7 (0.5–1.0) for no single-parent versus single parent family, 1.8 (1.3–2.5) for below-average and 0.6 (0.4–0.8) for above-average versus average motor fitness, and 1.4 (1.1–1.9) for high versus middle screen-based media use. The RRRs for abstinence rather than maintenance were 0.6 (0.4–0.7) for boys versus girls, 1.5 (1.1–2.0) for low versus intermediate parental education, 2.2 (1.7–2.8) for low and 0.6 (0.5–0.8) for high versus middle household income, 1.6 (1.2–2.1) for psychopathological problems versus no problems, 1.7 (1.3–2.2) for below-average and 0.4 (0.3–0.6) for above-average versus average motor fitness, and 1.6 (1.0–2.6) for rural versus metropolitan residential area. OS participation rates among all children living in Germany need to be improved. More tailored offerings are needed which consider the preferences and interests of adolescents as well as a cooperation between public health actors to reduce barriers to OS.