Abstract
BackgroundSedentary behaviour has been linked with adverse health outcomes in young people; however, the nature and context of being sedentary is poorly understood. Accurate quantification and description of sedentary behaviour using population-level data is required. The aim of this research was to describe sedentary behaviour among New Zealand (NZ) youth and examine whether sedentary behaviour differs by Body Mass Index (BMI) status in this population.MethodsA national representative cross-sectional survey of young people aged 5-24 years (n = 2,503) was conducted in 2008-2009. Data from this survey, which included subjectively (recall diary; n = 1,309) and objectively (accelerometry; n = 960) measured sedentary behaviour for participants aged 10-18 years were analysed using survey weighted methods.ResultsParticipants self-reported spending on average 521 minutes per day (standard error [SE] 5.29) in total sedentary behaviour, 181 minutes per day (SE 3.91) in screen-based sedentary activities (e.g., television and video games), and 340 minutes per day (SE 5.22) in other non-screen sedentary behaviours (e.g., school, passive transport and self-care). Accelerometer-measured total sedentary behaviour was on average 420 minutes per day (SE 4.26), or 53% (SE 0.42%) of monitored time. There were no statistically significant differences in time spent in sedentary behaviour among overweight, obese and healthy/underweight young people.ConclusionsBoth subjective and objective methods indicate that NZ youth spend much of their waking time being sedentary. No relationships were found between sedentary behaviour and BMI status. These findings extend previous research by describing engagement in specific sedentary activities, as well as quantifying the behaviour using an objective method. Differences in what aspects of sedentary behaviour the two methods are capturing are discussed. This research highlights the potential for future interventions to target specific sedentary behaviours or demographic groups.
Highlights
Sedentary behaviour has been linked with adverse health outcomes in young people; the nature and context of being sedentary is poorly understood
Young people reported engaging in 521 minutes (SE 5.29) of sedentary behaviour per day, comprised of 181 (SE 3.91) minutes of screen-based activities (Figure 1) and 340 (SE 5.22) minutes of non-screen activities (Figure 2)
In conclusion, data from both subjective and objective sources demonstrate that sedentary behaviour accounts for a significant proportion of waking time and occurs across the full spectrum of behavioural contexts in New Zealand (NZ) young people
Summary
Sedentary behaviour has been linked with adverse health outcomes in young people; the nature and context of being sedentary is poorly understood. Sedentary behaviour in young people has been linked with adverse health outcomes including increased metabolic risk [1] and adiposity [2,3]. Subjective (selfreport) measures have the advantage of providing detail on the type and context of sedentary behaviour, but are associated with the inherent limitations of all self-report instruments such as social desirability and recall biases [9]. Research studies involving young people tended to quantify sedentary behaviour using selfreported screen time as a proxy for total sedentary time [6]. A national survey of Australian young people aged 9-16 years (n = 2,200) using a use-of-time tool indicated that non-screen sedentary behaviours constituted 60% of total sedentary time.
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