Children's Leisure Time Research Articles

The impact of parents' physical activity goals and parental attitudes on physical activity during leisure time among children in middle childhood.

Parents' supportiveness and health-promoting habits significantly affect the intensity of children's physical activity (PA) and the involvement of parents in their engagement in PA; in this domain, both the hours devoted to PA and PA goals can be assessed. The family plays an important role in shaping the physical and social organization of the environment for children aged 4-6 years. A total of 680 families with 5-year-old children (330 girls, 350 boys) took part in the study. Data were collected from these participants, who were recruited from preschools and primary schools in the Pomeranian region of Poland. The aim of this study was to determine whether the involvement of parents in PA mediates the influence of parental attitudes on the ways in which their children spend their leisure time. The results showed that not all parental attitudes had direct impact on children's leisure time in PA and outside PA. Other aspects parental attitude had no significant impact on offspring's free time. Among fathers, only four aspects of parental attitude (namely, acceptance-rejection, inconsistency, autonomy, and overprotectiveness) had an impact on PA goals. Mothers' goals were influenced by the strength of a larger number of aspects of attitude (namely, acceptance-rejection, autonomy, inconsistency, over-demandingness, and overprotectiveness). Similarly, the strength of mothers' and fathers' acceptance-rejection attitudes, attitudes of autonomy, and overprotectiveness had an impact on their PA goals but were not directly linked to their children's leisure-time engagement in PA. Not all parental attitudes have a direct impact on children's PA or non-PA leisure time. However, the goals of PA parents have been recognized influence the leisure time of children in PA and outside PA. The most statistically significant relationship for both mothers and fathers was between parental attitudes and PA goals. Parental attitudes do not play a significant role in explaining involvement in PA or lack of it in leisure time among 5-year-old children.

Current Parents and Children's Leisure Time

This paper presents research focused on investigating contemporary parents and selected aspects of their influence on children's leisure time, emphasizing how and to what extent parents organize their children's leisure time. Parents from different regions of Slovakia participated in the research, and we processed the results using descriptive statistics. For comparison, we used the Student T-test, Mann-Whitney Test (for comparing two groups), and Kruskal-Wallis Test (for comparing three or more groups). The research showed that respondents judge current parenting as different and significantly more challenging compared to the past. They perceive differences in the sphere of leisure time of families, especially in the fact that parents give fewer responsibilities to children than the previous generation of parents. The research also shows that the problem of contemporary families is the absence of time spent together by parents and children, the absence of family communication, and the high level of organization of children's leisure time by parents. The authors point out that parents in a postmodern society have to deal with the difficulties of ensuring the family's economic stability, which is why two-career marriages are a reality in contemporary families. It has been proven that today's parents are busier with work and are more engaged outside the family, as a result of which they spend less time with their children, which negatively affects their upbringing, there is a lack of quality family communication, and children feel lonely and deprived of parental attention. It was also found that in the modern family, students are involved in housework much less than in the past, so they mostly have no experience of work in this aspect. It is emphasized that the compensation of parental influence with other means of education - media, technology (smartphones, tablets, computers), and the virtual world (social networks) is alarming. The decline in the development of reading interests in the family is outlined, and the tendency of parents to replace the joint reading of children's books with modern technologies is revealed.

FAMILY AND LEISURE: PARENTS’ VIEWS ON THEIR CHILDREN’S LEISURE TIME AND THEIR ROLE IN IT

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the views of parents on issues of managing their children's leisure time, and in particular, to investigate the participation of parents themselves in the leisure time of their children. According to the results of the research, the organization and planning of children's leisure are based on two main principles. The first concerns the involvement of children in creative activities that offer them pleasure and the second principle concerns investing in activities that will strengthen their educational capital. Parents seek to create a supportive environment that encourages the effective use of free time in a variety of ways. As a framework for family interaction, the family's free time includes daily activities, sports interests, and also outings and excursions. Our research has shown that parents spend most of their personal free time on family responsibilities and the degree of their participation varies according to the age group and gender of the parent. However, mothers and fathers with the highest level of education, parents aged 20-40 and parents with children in lower school classes participate more in the children's free time.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0322/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Pester power- The most powerful weapon of kids

The internets have taken up the majority of children's leisure time, drastically altering their media habits. Even the dinner table, where parents used to instill many positive values and wholesome ideas in their children, has been supplanted with watching television. Children today are so technologically aware that they practically know how everything works on the internet, and their browsing habits expose them to more of these sites and products around the world that they may then demand from their parents. Children's growing consumerism is blamed for the emergence of Pester Power. Due to the deluge of new TV (television) content, this trend has emerged. Nowadays, almost all marketers seek to promote their goods directly to the young target audience. The composition of Indian families has shifted from joint families to nuclear or extended families as a result of influences from the west. Indian consumerism has been greatly influenced by exposure to the globalised world and changing family dynamics. Kids are ruling the consumer market as three distinct segments are represented by them. The research aims to study the influence of cartoon character, celebrity endorsement on child’ pester power. The study also proves that there is positive relationship between humour in advertisements with child buying behaviour.

The Roles of Grit and Motivation in Predicting Children's Leisure-Time Physical Activity: One-Year Effects.

In this study, we tested two alternative models for investigating the ability of dimensions of personal grit (consistency of interest and perseverance of effort) and autonomous motivation to predict the leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) over a one-year period of 256 youth (aged 11-15 years at the beginning of the study). Specifically, we compared a model in which dimensions of grit were assumed to predict LTPA through autonomous motivation with a model in which autonomous motivation was assumed to predict LTPA through dimensions of grit. We tested the two models using variance-based structural equation modelling with Warp PLS v7.0 software. Both models showed a good fit with the data and equally explained 41% of the variance in LTPA over this one-year time period. However, the model based on the total effect of autonomous motivation (β = 0.448, p < 0.001, ES = 0.229) on LTPA through the dimensions of grit was stronger than the model based on the total effect of perseverance of effort (β = 0.356, p < 0.001, ES = 0.126) on LTPA through autonomous motivation, and the total effect of consistency of interest was not significant (β = -0.029, p > 0.05, ES = 0.003). Our findings underscore the relatively greater importance of the interplay between autonomous motivation and perseverance of effort, versus consistency of interest, in predicting LTPA among youth over a one-year period.

No association between maternal exercise during pregnancy and the child's weight status at age 7 years: The MoBa study.

Maternal lifestyle during pregnancy may affect the development of overweight and obesity in the child. We examined whether maternal exercise during pregnancy is associated with offspring overweight and obesity in childhood. A secondary aim was to examine whether the association is affected by the child's physical activity level. This study is based on data from the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa), including 44 352 pregnancies and children (n=32 304 in week 17 and n=32 419 in week 30 in the final adjusted model). Maternal exercise during pregnancy was self-reported in gestational weeks 17 and 30. We conducted linear and logistic regression separately for girls and boys, and outcomes were the child's body mass index (BMI) and weight status (overweight/obese) at age 7years. We further examined the additive joint association between maternal exercise during pregnancy and the child's leisure time physical activity on weight status at age 7years. In total, 12.4% of the children were classified as overweight or obese, and 1.7% as obese. The results suggest no association between maternal exercise in both gestational weeks 17 and 30 and the weight status of the child at age 7years. The association between maternal exercise and the child's weight status at age 7years appears not to be affected by the child's physical activity level. Maternal exercise level during pregnancy does not appear to be associated with the child's BMI or odds of being overweight or obese in childhood.

«Цифровое слабоумие» молодежи как проблема современного образования

We consider the issues on the causes of the decline in the intellectual abilities of modern youth. We describe the correlation of this phenomenon with the wide-spreading and starting from an early age use of various kinds of digital devices. We briefly note the origin history of the term “digital dementia” and the author's position regarding this term perception. We describe a number of factors that contribute to the decline in the intellectual development of young people, including: a decrease in the quality of secondary education, deterioration of preschool training of children, simplification of animation and film production, reduction of communication time between parents and children, lack of funds for parents to organize high-quality regular leisure time for children. Negative effects on the intellectual abilities of a young person are described: digital devices can form only a fragmentary idea of reality, without forming a complete idea of a real object; a full-fledged experience of social interaction is not acquired; memory deterioration occurs; there is an appearance of mental dependence on digital devices. Examples from the author's pedagogical practice are given, confirming the manifestation of the effects of “digital dementia” among students: memory impairment in students, undeveloped critical thinking, poorly developed speech (terminologically poor, inconsistent, unsubstantiated), demonstration of misunderstanding of the meaning of the heard or read text.

PHYSICAL OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVING GAMES IN EDUCATION.

There are many different ways, methods and techniques in thephysical formation and upbringing of a healthy generation, and its factors aremany. It is especially important to properly organize children's leisure time,physical education and physical culture and sports, to teach them a variety ofmovement games.

Frequent witnessing to interparental conflict and low parental availability for leisure-time is associated with dysfunctional voiding in primary school children.

Aspects of parenting are an under-investigated topic amongst children with voiding complaints. We aimed to investigate the association between voiding complaints amongst children and two specific parenting-related behaviours: 1) parental availability during the child's leisure time and 2) frequency of witnessing interparental conflict. Children aged between 6 and 11years with their parents were the participants. Two survey forms and informed consent form were sent to potential participants via children's teacher. Voiding dysfunction complaints were evaluated with the Dysfunctional Voiding and Incontinence Symptom Scale (DVISS). Data analyses were performed with 1101 eligible participants. The mean duration of parental availability during the child's leisure time was below 2hours per day. Nearly one out of every four children witnessed interparental conflict at least once a month. Age, educational level of the mother, parental availability for the child's leisure time, and frequency of witnessing parental conflicts were found to be significantly associated with DVISS ratings. Adjusting age, socioeconomic level, and educational level of the parents and later adjusting parental availability during the child's leisure time did not change the association of frequency of witnessing interparental conflict with DVISS rates. An increase in the age, educational level of the mother, and parental availability during the child's leisure time was correlated with better scores on DVISS, while an increase in the frequency of witnessing interparental conflict strongly correlated with worse scores. Exposing children to interparental conflicts and shorter togetherness with their leisure time is associated with voiding complaints.

Gender Differences in Subjective Well-Being of Healthy High-School Students

Summary The objective of this study was to analyse the level of subjective well-being (SWB) through five SWB dimensions and compare it between healthy male and healthy female high school students preferring sedentary leisure time activities. The research sample comprised of 90 male high school students (mean age 16.72 ± 1.33) and 126 female high school students (mean age 16.71 ± 1.36) who preferred sedentary types of leisure time activities with self-reported good health status. A standardized The Bern Subjective Well-Being Questionnaire for Adolescents (BFW) was used as a primary research method. We found significantly higher level of positive SWB dimension (U = 4281, p = 0.002, r = 172) and significantly lower level of negative SWB dimension (U = 2835, p = 0.000, r = 424) in the group of male high school students with self-reported good health status in comparison to female high school students. Parents should be involved in the selection of their children's leisure time activities, so it should not have only the sedentary character but also sport leisure time activities, mainly among young girls.

Schooling and Labor Market Impacts of Bolivia's Bono Juancito Pinto Program

Schooling and Labor Market Impacts of Bolivia's <i>Bono Juancito Pinto</i> Program

Multilevel analysis concerning the relationship between social vulnerability and the healthy use of leisure time in children and adolescents in Argentina: A national population-based study

Background: Leisure time is a human right and has to be considered part of any health promotion initiative aimed at children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between social vulnerability and the healthy use of leisure time in children and adolescents in urban contexts of Argentina, in 2012. Methods: A cross-sectional and analytical study using data from the Module on Activities of Girls, Boys and Adolescents of the Annual Urban Household Survey was carried out. In this survey, a self-administered instrument was applied to 25,915 individuals aged from 5 to 17. A Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was developed. Association was estimated by multilevel logistic regression. Results: Children and adolescents use most of their leisure time to carry out school activities (90.1%) with art activities having the lowest percentage (21.8%). In the multilevel models on the relationship between a high SVI and non-performance of socialization activities, the OR was 1.99 (p = 0.002, 95% CI: 1.28-3.12). The association between high SVI and non-use of ICT gave an OR of 14.17 (p &lt; 0.001, 95% CI: 5.13-39.17), and between high SVI and non-use of internet, an OR of 21.89 (p &lt; 0.001, 95% CI: 7.50-63.88). Conclusions: A high SVI negatively impacts on some healthy activities of leisure time for children and adolescents in Argentina. The SVI could be a useful tool to guide health promotion initiatives in this population.

Multilevel analysis concerning the relationship between social vulnerability and the healthy use of leisure time in children and adolescents in Argentina: A national population-based study

Background: Leisure time is a human right and has to be considered part of any health promotion initiative aimed at children and adolescents. The objective of this study was to analyze the relationship between social vulnerability and the healthy use of leisure time in children and adolescents in urban contexts of Argentina, in 2012. Methods: A cross-sectional and analytical study using data from the Module on Activities of Girls, Boys and Adolescents of the Annual Urban Household Survey was carried out. In this survey, a self-administered instrument was applied to 25,915 individuals aged from 5 to 17. A Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) was developed. Association was estimated by multilevel logistic regression. Results: Children and adolescents use most of their leisure time to carry out school activities (90.1%) with art activities having the lowest percentage (21.8%). In the multilevel models on the relationship between a high SVI and non-performance of socialization activities, the OR was 1.99 (p = 0.002, 95% CI: 1.28-3.12). The association between high SVI and non-use of ICT gave an OR of 14.17 (p ≤ 0.001, 95% CI: 5.13-39.17), and between high SVI and non-use of internet, an OR of 21.89 (p ≤ 0.001, 95% CI: 7.50-63.88). Conclusions: A high SVI negatively impacts on some healthy activities of leisure time for children and adolescents in Argentina. The SVI could be a useful tool to guide health promotion initiatives in this population.

From Superman to Social Realism: Children's Media and Scandinavian Childhood by Helle Jensen

Reviewed by: From Superman to Social Realism: Children's Media and Scandinavian Childhood by Helle Jensen Lydia Kokkola (bio) From Superman to Social Realism: Children's Media and Scandinavian Childhood. By Helle Jensen. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Childhood studies really took off with Philippe Ariès's now classic Centuries of Childhood: A Social History of Family Life. Originally published in French in 1960, and translated into English in 1962, it provided a provocative history of family life among the French middle classes. Since then, the topic has expanded into a full-fledged research field. Despite its French origins, however, the field has been dominated by writing in English about Anglophone countries. Moreover, as David Buckingham points out in his preface to From Superman to Social Realism, discussions of children's relation to media are obsessed with the here and now, the latest gadgets and devices, and there is a great need to assume a broader historical perspective in order to distinguish between the ephemeral and the entrenched patterns of response (ix). Helle Jensen has responded to these challenges with a monograph examining three media debates that took place in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark from the end of the Second World War to the present day. This era saw television enter the private home, often transmitting American media, which carried beliefs that jarred with the political ideology that led to the establishment of the social welfare states that we know today. The volume is primarily of interest to researchers within Scandinavian studies, but also proffers a valuable antidote to the Anglocentrism and [End Page 231] neophilia of childhood studies more generally. Jensen's decision to focus on Scandinavia as a whole rather than on the individual countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway reflects the reality of cross-border discussion in the region. The three national languages are mutually intelligible, especially in their written form. During the first period that Jensen examines (1945 through the mid-1960s), Norway and Denmark were recovering from German occupation during the Second World War, whereas Sweden's neutrality had enabled the country's infrastructure to survive largely unscathed. Throughout this period, all three countries were transitioning from primarily agrarian economies toward the technology and service-industry economies of today. Social welfare was the cornerstone of this development, affecting everything from housing, education, and healthcare to pay and conditions in the workplace and the banning of corporal punishment. The impact on children was significant: immediately after the war, children were such an integral part of the agricultural workforce that school holidays were arranged to coincide with seasonal activities such as harvesting. Today there are strict limits on the number of hours that children can work, and they have vastly more free time. These great social upheavals provide the background for the intense debates about children's leisure time engagements that Jensen examines. Her decision to focus on what children engaged with outside the school context resonates with their departure from the labor market and exposes the fractures between political policy and citizens' behavior. During this postwar period, debates about children and media focused on the arrival on the Scandinavian market of affordable comics, particularly superhero comics such as Superman. Opposition to these stories focused on their violence, their subjugation of women, and the likelihood of children mimicking the behavior of either the villains or the superheroes. The latter, as one would expect, is key to understanding the underlying theme of all of the debates through the present day. In contrast to American debates on the suitability of material, which have been integrally tied up with the practice of banning books, Jensen shows how the Scandinavian debates have chosen a more pedagogical perspective, as critics endeavored to warn parents of the dangers of this material and promoted alternative homegrown media such as the Swedish Tuff och Tuss (33). The establishment of school libraries, particularly in Sweden, improved access to approved materials. Teachers and other key actors in the education system were also concerned that exposure to these American comics was undermining their attempts to educate their nations' children. Throughout this debate, Jensen identifies the image of the fragile child who needs to be protected from these dangerous materials...

ORGANIZING LEISURE TIME IN A FAMILY FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN THE CONTEXT OF HEALTH EDUCATION

Children leisure time is usually decided by their immediate environment, i.e. their family. Therefore, leisure activities which are designed in a family and which enable children to discover pleasant experiences and motivate them to care of their own health are of extreme importance. The aim of the study was to highlight the peculiarities of the organization of leisure time activities in a family for elementary school students in the context of health education. The respondents of the study were 614 elementary school students from eight Western Lithuania schools and 604 of their parents. The study has shown that elementary school students rate their health more favourably than their parents. Almost half of the respondents- children (42.7%) have rated their health as very good and around the same number of children (45.3%) have rated it as good. One fifth of respondents- parents (20.7%) have rated the health of their children as very good and more than half of parents (62.3%) have said that the health of their children is good. The opinion of parents and their children on the issue of the time allocated for leisure activities has been discovered as being similar. Respondentschildren indicate that on weekdays their leisure time averages to 2.4 hours/day and at the weekends to 4.3 hours/day. Respondents-parents indicate that children’s leisure time on weekdays lasts for 2.2 hours/ day, and at the weekends it reaches 4.4 hours /day. It has been revealed that the longer the leisure time the children have, the better their health is. The majority of children (78%) believe that they have enough leisure time. Those, who assume that they do not have enough leisure time, and those, who are undecided, make almost one-fourth (24%). A third of elementary school students enjoy physically active forms of leisure time activities (going in for sports) while about a half of respondents-children prefer passive forms of leisure time activities (artistic activities, watching TV, playing computer games, reading books). Respondents- children point out that they devote on average 3.4 hours/day for passive forms of activities and 2.2.hours/day for physical active leisure activities. Their parents state that children spend 4.3 hours /day for passive activities and 1.8 hours/day for physical active leisure activities. Only about one-tenth of families engage themselves in mutual active forms of physical activities and play sports together. Therefore, the leisure time spent by children together with the family is not sufficiently active.

From the Editors

From the Editors

MODEL OF PEDAGOGICAL ACTIVITY OF VOLUNTEERS ON SPIRITUAL-MORAL TRAINING OF MINORS IN RESIDENCE

The article actualizes the problem of the value disorientation of the younger generation. As an option for solving this problem, the author suggests combining the resources of student volunteerism and various social institutions, the resources of the place where minors live, to create a space for spiritual and moral education. In the article the author describes in detail the theoretical model. The model represents the unity of the target, subject, procedural, informative and diagnostic-effective components that determine the specifics of the organization of leisure time for children of different ages and different groups (the "risk" group, the "norm" group, children with disabilities) through participation in the value system –saturated spiritual-oriented, socially useful, cultural and creative activity on a leisure area during the summer period, as well as a set of diagnostic procedures, positive dynamics in changing the behavior and activities of pupils. The model developed by the author was implemented on five leisure areas in the summer period 2016, 2017 of the Perm region. The materials proposed in the article can be used by teachers of additional education, volunteer centers, student pedagogical units for organizing the process of spiritual and moral education of children and adolescents in the place of residence.

Leisure Time of Children and Youth in Slovakia and Brazil through Physical Education and Sports

Leisure Time of Children and Youth in Slovakia and Brazil through Physical Education and Sports

Computers and Children's Leisure Time

This work focuses on contemporary trends in leisure time activities of children with an emphasis on the growing impact of information and communication technologies. We spend more and more time at the computer, which greatly affects the lifestyle of all of us, especially teenagers and children. This study presents the results of a quantitative research survey focusing on the place of computer games and social networks in the leisure of children - how much time children spend at the computer during the week and during the holidays; in what kinds of activities they engage; how much time they devote to playing computer games, the Internet and social networks. The contribution deals with the benefits, but also the negative effects that computers produce.

Sedentary behaviour as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in pediatric age

The term “sedentary” has historically been used to refer to individuals with low physical activity levels or not meeting some criterion level of physical activity. According to the recent findings, sedentary behaviour has been defined not simply as the absence of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, but as a class of behaviours (e.g. sitting, watching TV or playing video games) characterized by little physical movement and low energy expenditure (≤ 1.5 metabolic equivalents –METs-) [1]. Recent evidences suggest that sedentary is a distinct risk factors for chronic diseases including cardiometabolic diseases [2]. In Western countries sedentary time increased dramatically since 1960s [3]. Schools, homes, and public spaces have been re-engineered minimizing physical activity and contributing to reduce children independent mobility. [4] Moreover the new media (eg. computer and videogames) occupy a high proportion of leisure-time of children and youth. Sedentary behavior can be assessed using both indirect (questionnaires) and direct measurement tools (accelerometers). These methods assess different aspects of sedentary: while self- and proxy-report questionnaires mainly focused on common sedentary behaviours (eg. watching TV), accelerometers better estimate the individual’s total sedentary profile. Therefore in clinical studies the concurrent use of both strategies should be encouraged [5]. In pediatric age, studies have demonstrated that spending excessive time engaging in sedentary behaviors, independent from overall physical activity levels, is adversely associated with adiposity and other cardiometabolic risk factors such as lipid profile, blood pressure and central obesity [5,6]. In particular, the self-reported screen time appears to be more strongly associated with these risk factors than the total sedentary time assessed by accelerometers. One potential explanation could be that certain forms of sedentary activities (TV viewing and more in general screen-based activities) promote the excess of food intake and thus a positive energy balance. Research community should continue to accrue knowledge about the impact of sedentary on health in the pediatric age. Efforts should be done to promote deliberate physical activity and to decrease sedentary behaviours in order to maximize health benefits since childhood.