Abstract
Little is known about the longitudinal association of familial socio-demographic factors, behaviours, attitudes, or home environment with meeting physical activity guidelines. Our objective was to a) describe 4-year change in the prevalence of meeting guidelines, and characteristics of participants across categories of physical activity maintenance, and b) identify familial factors in childhood that are longitudinally associated with meeting guidelines in adolescence.Data on 17 parent- and child-reported family variables and objectively measured physical activity (ActiGraph GT1M) were available from 406 children (10.3 ± 0.3 years, 53.5% female) participating in the SPEEDY study. Average duration of week- and weekend day moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, ≥ 2000 cpm) at baseline and follow-up (14.3 ± 0.3 years) were calculated to determine whether participants met 60 min MVPA/day guidelines at each assessment. Descriptives were calculated across four MVPA change categories. Multi-level logistic regression examined the association of baseline familial factors with meeting guidelines at follow-up, adjusting for sex, baseline physical activity, family socio-economic position, and school clustering.At follow-up, 51.5% and 36.1% of adolescents met guidelines on weekdays and weekend days, respectively (baseline: 68.0%, 67.2%). Girls were less likely than boys to remain sufficiently active, particularly on weekdays. Family social support was positively associated with adolescents meeting guidelines at weekends (OR 1.2; 95% CI 1.0–1.4). The presence of play equipment at home was negatively associated with meeting guidelines on weekdays (OR 0.5; 95% CI 0.3–0.8).Interventions that foster parent's facilitation of physical activity may help to encourage the upkeep of healthy behaviours during the transition from childhood to adolescence.
Highlights
The World Health Organisation cites inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality (World Health Organisation, 2010)
The objectives of the current study are to: a) Describe 4-year change in the prevalence of meeting guidelines over the transition from primary to secondary school, and demographic characteristics of participants across four categories of physical activity maintenance: (i) Maintained below physical activity guidelines (ii) Maintained above physical activity guidelines (iii) Decreased from above to below physical activity guidelines (iv) Increased from below to above physical activity guidelines; b) Identify family factors in childhood that are longitudinally associated with meeting physical activity guidelines at week and weekend days in adolescence
Participants included for longitudinal analysis reported a slightly higher parental education score but were similar to those not included on other baseline variables
Summary
The World Health Organisation cites inactivity as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality (World Health Organisation, 2010). It is suggested that regular engagement in physical activity is beneficial for young people's mental health and self-esteem, and for improved cognitive performance and scholastic achievement (Biddle and Asare, 2011; Brown et al, 2013; Singh et al, 2012). H.E. Brown et al / Preventive Medicine Reports 6 (2017) 221–227 familial and home influences on changes in children's activity with age. Brown et al / Preventive Medicine Reports 6 (2017) 221–227 familial and home influences on changes in children's activity with age This is especially important given that levels of physical activity decline substantially throughout childhood and into adolescence (Nader et al, 2008; Dumith et al, 2011)
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