Exploring Associations Between Household Chaos With Sedentary Behavior And Screen Time In Rural Children

Abstract

Household chaos is perceived home disorganization caused by noise, crowding, and traffic patterns. It has been shown to be linked to weight-related behaviors such as sleep and nutritional behaviors (i.e., family meals). However, the relationship between sedentary behavior and household chaos has not been explored. Examining this association could allow us to better understand how family milieu contributes to behavioral risk factors for childhood obesity. PURPOSE: To examine associations between household chaos with sedentary behavior and screen time in rural children. METHODS: Participants (n=105 parent/child dyads) were enrolled in the NU-HOME study, a family-based, obesity prevention RCT in rural Minnesota. Parents reported baseline data on sociodemographics, household chaos, and child screen time. Household chaos was measured with a 15-item scale about home disorganization (α=0.83; higher scores indicate more chaos). Children’s sedentary behavior was assessed via accelerometry. Regression analyses using SAS 9.4 were performed to assess associations between household chaos and sedentary behavior and screen time, controlling for child-parent ratio, economic assistance, child BMI z-score and age. Normality of screen time was not met, so a transformed variable was used in analyses. RESULTS: Child mean age was 8.95±1.05 years; 59% were female; mean BMI z-score=0.92±0.94. Mean daily sedentary time and screen time were 8.33±77.5 and 2.06±1.42 hours, respectively. Household chaos scores had a mean of 5.04±3.6, which is comparable to other studies. Household chaos scores were not significantly associated with child sedentary behavior but were positively associated with child screen time (p=0.002). CONCLUSIONS: In other studies, household chaos has been associated with negative health behaviors, which aligns with our current findings. The association between screen time and household chaos may be explained by parents using electronics to entertain children in chaotic environments. Parents in chaotic homes may also have more difficulty managing a child’s screen time than those in less chaotic homes. The relationship between household chaos and sedentary behavior should be further explored to increase our understanding of how the home environment may affect health-related behaviors.