Adherence to 24-h movement behaviour guidelines in families with multiple children.
Leigh R Tooth, Gregore I Mielke, Katrina M Moss
PMID 38105630WHAT IT FOUND
Families with children of different ages struggle more to meet screen time guidelines than those with children of similar ages.
Physical activity adherence was poor regardless of family age structure. Sleep guidelines were met by almost all children in both groups.
Key findings
01Families where all children were in the same age-based guideline category had double the odds of all children meeting all three 24-hour movement guidelines compared to families with children in different categories.
02Screen time adherence was significantly better in families with children of the same age, with twice the odds of all children meeting guidelines.
03Physical activity adherence was generally poor and did not improve when children were in the same age category; in fact, families with same-age children had lower odds of all children meeting PA guidelines.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
Data relied on maternal self-report, which may be inaccurate for activities outside the home. The sample was cross-sectional, so causality cannot be determined. Participants were more likely to be university-educated and employed than the general population, limiting generalizability. The study only included children aged 1 to 12 years, excluding adolescents and infants. Physical activity guidelines for children under 5 differ from those for older children, but the analysis grouped them by age category.
Declared interests
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that grouping children by age improves physical activity adherence. The study found that families with same-age children actually had lower odds of all children meeting physical activity guidelines, likely because these families often had older children whose activity levels naturally decline.