# Novel Accelerometer Calibration and Validation in Children andAdolescents

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST · 2020 · $355,478

## Abstract

Summary
Accelerometers have been embraced by the scientific community as valid and reliable physical activity (PA)
assessment tools. This is especially true in some sub-populations, such as children, who lack the ability to self-
report their behaviors. Tremendous progress has been made in the objective assessment of PA and sedentary
behavior (SB). Several measurement challenges remain that limit our ability to identify; dose-response
associations with disease and risk factors, prevalence and determinants of these important health behaviors,
changes in behavior due to time and intervention efforts. To overcome these challenges, we propose novel
calibration procedures that will leverage the richness of three axes of raw acceleration data during free-living
calibration activities, from wrist- and hip-worn accelerometers. Consistent with current PA recommendations for
youth, the proposed study will focus on calibrating and validating accelerometer output to quantify intensity and
duration of PA and identifying specific predominant modes of activity (e.g., sedentary time, locomotion, and
fine/gross motor activity). Our primary goal is to follow best-practices data collection and analysis procedures
to develop a comprehensive set of accelerometer algorithms that will accurately and precisely estimate
minutes of various intensities of PA and mode of activity from hip- and wrist-worn accelerometers in children
and adolescents (18 months to 21 years old), using video recorded direct observation during free-living
activities as the criterion measure.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9938564
- **Project number:** 5R01DK110148-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
- **Principal Investigator:** John Ronald Sirard
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $355,478
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-02 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9938564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9938564, Novel Accelerometer Calibration and Validation in Children andAdolescents (5R01DK110148-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9938564. Licensed CC0.

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