Abstract
Several factors may influence children’s lifestyle. The main purpose of this study is to introduce a children’s lifestyle index framework and model it based on structural equation modeling (SEM) with Maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian predictors. This framework includes parental socioeconomic status, household food security, parental lifestyle, and children’s lifestyle. The sample for this study involves 452 volunteer Chinese families with children 7–12 years old. The experimental results are compared in terms of root mean square error, coefficient of determination, mean absolute error, and mean absolute percentage error metrics. An analysis of the proposed causal model suggests there are multiple significant interconnections among the variables of interest. According to both Bayesian and ML techniques, the proposed framework illustrates that parental socioeconomic status and parental lifestyle strongly impact children’s lifestyle. The impact of household food security on children’s lifestyle is rejected. However, there is a strong relationship between household food security and both parental socioeconomic status and parental lifestyle. Moreover, the outputs illustrate that the Bayesian prediction model has a good fit with the data, unlike the ML approach. The reasons for this discrepancy between ML and Bayesian prediction are debated and potential advantages and caveats with the application of the Bayesian approach in future studies are discussed.
Highlights
Children’s lifestyle behaviors, such as technology usage time, home studying, physical activity, and sleep duration tend to change in non-favorable directions
The information gathered in this survey includes information about parental socioeconomic status, household food security, parental lifestyle, and children’s lifestyle of individuals living in Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
The main purpose of the present study was to demonstrate the potential of the maximum likelihood structural equation modeling (SEM) and Bayesian SEM approaches in modeling the children’s lifestyle index
Summary
Children’s lifestyle behaviors, such as technology usage time, home studying, physical activity, and sleep duration tend to change in non-favorable directions. Some studies indicate that the family environment is an important determinant of children’s lifestyle [1]. Various studies have indicated that many factors are related to the lifestyle index of children, including parental socioeconomic status [2,3,4] and parental lifestyle [5]. There are insufficient studies on the impact of household food security on children’s lifestyle. Research on the simultaneous integration of the interrelationships among the four well-known concepts into one model remains scarce. These influential factors are interrelated and latent because they cannot be measured directly, and it is quite complicated to determine the lifestyle index
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
