Abstract
BackgroundPhysical activity in children is associated with better physical and mental health but many children do not meet physical activity guidelines. Friendship groups are potentially an important influence on children’s physical activity and sedentary time. This paper examines the association between children of physical activity and sedentary time in school-based same-sex friendship networks, for both moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time. Moreover, considering the methodological challenges of conducting and interpreting these analyses, we provide examples of how to analyse these data and interpret results to encourage further work in the area.MethodsAccelerometer data for 1223 children, aged 8-9 years, were collected in 2015-2016 and analysed in 2017. Mean accelerometer minutes of MVPA and sedentary time were calculated. Children named up to four school friends and same-sex school-based friendship networks were constructed. Network models, which include correlation between friends, were fitted by sex.ResultsBoth MVPA and sedentary time were found to be associated via the friendship networks, for both boys and girls. The network autocorrelation was 0.21 (95% CI: 0.15 to 0.26) for boys’ MVPA, and 0.14 (95% CI: 0.07 to 0.21) for sedentary time. Network autocorrelation between girls was weaker, with 0.13 (95% CI: 0.06 to 0.19) for MVPA and 0.11 (95% CI: 0.05 to 0.17) for sedentary time.ConclusionsPhysical activity and sedentary time of boys and girls are associated with the physical activity and sedentary time respectively of others within same-sex friendship networks, and these associations are comparable to other known factors. In this study, the correlation between friends was stronger for boys than girls, and stronger for MVPA than for sedentary time. These findings suggest that friendship networks play a part in understanding children’s physical activity and sedentary time and could play a valuable role in developing effective interventions.
Highlights
Physical activity in children is associated with better physical and mental health but many children do not meet physical activity guidelines
Evidence for correlation within girls’ moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) and sedentary time was weaker (I = 0.096, p = 0.009 for MVPA, I = 0.088, p = 0.017 for sedentary time). These results indicate that MVPA and sedentary time are correlated within friendship networks, and that modelling this correlation is appropriate in all cases
Sedentary time is typically associated with different factors to MVPA [35, 36], with differences by gender less evident, and these results show similar patterns for friendship networks; associations are similar for girls and boys, and sedentary time is less strongly associated with friendship networks than MVPA
Summary
Physical activity in children is associated with better physical and mental health but many children do not meet physical activity guidelines. It is recommended that all children and adolescents engage in at least 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) per day and limit their sedentary time [5]. A number of national surveys suggest that many children and young people do not meet physical activity guidelines, with girls less active than boys at all ages [6, 7]. Data from the nationally-representative Millennium cohort in the UK showed that among 7-8year-old boys 63% met the physical activity hour per day recommendation and spent on average 6.4 h in sedentary time, while only 38% of girls achieved the recommendation and spent an average of 6.5 h in sedentary time [6]. There is a need to find ways to help children be more active and less sedentary
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