Abstract
Home-based interventions targeting children’s sedentary behaviours have had limited and inconsistent effectiveness, possibly due to a mismatch between the behaviours targeted, the behaviours actually performed, and health-risk messages parents need to initiate change. Between October 2017–February 2018, 540 parents completed an online survey indicating their own and their child’s participation in 15 home-based sedentary behaviours (child mean age 11.1 ± 2.61 years, 52% male; parent mean age 40.7 ± 6.14, 93% female). Parents also indicated which home-based sedentary behaviours they and their child could reduce, and what health-risk messages would make them change their child’s behaviours. The most prevalent sedentary behaviours among children (particularly older children) and parents were screen-based leisure-time activities, specifically TV/video/DVD use (67.5 and 62.5 min/day, respectively) and using a tablet/smart phone for leisure (53.6 and 80.8 min/day, respectively). Importantly, these were also perceived as the most feasible behaviours parents and children could reduce. Parents reported that the following messages would help them reduce their child’s sedentary behaviour: sitting may increase the risk of poor mental health (85.2% of parents) and adversely impact future health as an adult (85.1%). These findings highlight feasible behavioural targets and intervention content for programs aiming to reduce sedentary behaviours in the home environment. Further research is needed to test these strategies.
Highlights
Growing evidence links sedentary behaviours, defined as any sitting, reclining or lying behaviours requiring an energy expenditure of ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) [1], with a multitude of negative health outcomes such as an increased risk of obesity, cardio-metabolic risk factors, anti-social behavior, and lower academic achievement [2]
The lack of intervention effects may, be due to a mismatch between sedentary behaviours targeted in the interventions and the range of sedentary behaviours children perform at home
Children and parents engaged in sedentary behaviours for 7 h and 7 min and 5 h and 5 min per day, respectively
Summary
Growing evidence links sedentary behaviours, defined as any sitting, reclining or lying behaviours requiring an energy expenditure of ≤1.5 metabolic equivalents (METs) [1], with a multitude of negative health outcomes such as an increased risk of obesity, cardio-metabolic risk factors, anti-social behavior, and lower academic achievement [2]. The home environment has been identified internationally as a key setting and source of influence on children’s overall sedentary behaviour levels [3,4,5]. Home-based interventions aiming to reduce children’s recreational electronic media use have primarily focused on managing TV viewing, with limited and inconsistent results [6,7,8]. This is likely due to the rapid change in the technology environment and the proliferation of “new” technologies [9] such as digital tablets, smart phones, game consoles, and readily available internet.
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