Original research
Maternal correlates of young children's physical activity across periods of the day

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2016.06.014Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

Associations between maternal correlates and young children's physical activity levels across the whole day and the segmented day were examined.

Design

Cross-sectional study

Methods

Participants were 136 mothers and their 1–3 year old children recruited between July 2013 and March 2014. Mothers reported time spent providing physical activity opportunities for their child, co-participating in and modelling physical activity and sedentary behaviours during the morning, afternoon and evening. Participants wore ActiGraph GT3X (mothers) and GT3X+ (children) accelerometers concurrently for seven consecutive days and the time spent in light- (LPA), moderate- to vigorous- (MVPA) and total (LMVPA) physical activity were assessed. Two-level (family; recruitment group) multivariate models examined associations between maternal correlates (including maternal objectively-assessed sedentary time [ST] and physical activity) and children's physical activity.

Results

Maternal self-reported co-participation in sedentary behaviour and provision of child opportunities for physical activity were associated with children's physical activity; associations varied by period and physical activity intensity. During the morning period, mothers’ objectively assessed ST was negatively associated with children's MVPA and LMVPA while her LPA was positively associated with children's LPA, MVPA and LMVPA. Mothers’ MVPA was negatively associated with children's LPA and LMVPA during the evening period.

Conclusions

Maternal correlates of young children's physical activity may be period- and intensity-specific. Programmes promoting physical activity for families may need to consider incorporating strategies to reduce mother–child co-participation in sedentary behaviour, increase mothers’ provision of opportunities to be active and increase mothers’ own LPA over ST during certain periods of the day.

Introduction

Engagement in physical activity during early childhood (0–5 years of age) is recommended for favourable health and developmental outcomes.1 Current physical activity guidelines for children under five recommend 180 min of total (i.e., light-, moderate- and vigorous-intensity [LMVPA]) physical activity across the day.2, 3, 4 However, many studies report low levels of daily physical activity in children under age five5 and recent Australian population data suggests that only 14% of children meet physical activity guidelines by the commencement of primary school.6 As physical activity during early childhood has been found to track into middle childhood7 and adulthood,8 maximising physical activity early in life is a key public health priority. In order to design effective programmes to promote physical activity within this age group, a greater understanding of the factors that influence young children's physical activity is needed.9

Given the low levels of autonomy possessed by young children, it is often parents who act as gatekeepers of their children's health behaviours within the home environment. Parents have been hypothesised to influence their child's physical activity in three ways: providing physical activity opportunities for their child (e.g. taking the child to the park), modelling physical activity themselves (e.g. riding a bike in front of the child), or co-participating in physical activity with their child (e.g. playing active games with the child).10 In addition, mothers who spend substantial amounts of time sedentary (either modelling such behaviour or in co-participation with their child) may negatively influence their children's activity levels. However, evidence of associations between parental correlates of young children's physical activity remains largely inconclusive to date.11, 12 Few correlates have been repeatedly investigated in children under age five years and, of those studies conducted, the evidence is mixed. The influence of mothers on children's physical activity appears to be different to that of fathers13; therefore, examining the correlates for each parent separately may help to more effectively understand parental influences on children's physical activity. Mothers of young children under age five report spending a considerable portion of their day with their child,14 and are therefore likely to be an important target group for understanding how they influence their child's physical activity.

Most research examining influences on young children's physical activity focuses on the preschool population (3–5 years old) with evidence for children under age three virtually non-existent.15 This is an important research gap given the substantial developmental differences between these age groups. In addition, it has been argued that correlates of health behaviours are context specific.16 That is, global measures of physical activity correlates (such as ‘barriers to overall activity levels’) may not be as useful as contextual correlates which can better inform intervention programme development. For example, correlates of physical activity have been found to be period-specific,17 as well as intensity-specific18 for children under age five. However, to date, no studies have examined maternal correlates of physical activity among children under three years using a both a period- and intensity-specific approach. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine how maternal physical activity and sedentary behaviours, practices and beliefs were associated with different intensities of young children's physical activity across different periods of the day.

Section snippets

Methods

Between July 2013 and March 2014, one-hundred and sixty-three mother–child dyads from suburbs within Melbourne and Geelong, Australia were recruited through playgroups (n = 139; 43% response rate), swimming classes (n = 4), primary school newsletters (to target younger siblings; n = 2) and an email circulated to university staff (n = 18). Information regarding potential reach of the latter three recruitment methods was not collected, therefore a response rate cannot be calculated.

Mothers were required

Results

After removal of children with insufficient physical activity or questionnaire data (n = 27), a final sample of 136 children for inclusion in any of the analyses remained. However, the sample sizes for each respective period analysis differed as some children did not have accelerometry data for at least 50% of every period. In total, 130 participants were included in analyses for the morning period, 126 participants for the afternoon period and 131 participants for the evening period. No

Discussion

This study is the first to examine associations between maternal correlates (including maternal objectively-assessed physical activity and sedentary time), and 1–3 year old children's physical activity levels within different periods of the day. A number of maternal correlates investigated were associated with young children's physical activity, indicating that mothers are key individuals to target when promoting young children's physical activity. More specifically, mothers’ co-participation

Conclusion

Intervention programmes aiming to increase children's physical activity levels may need to consider developing strategies that address some of the intensity-specific correlates identified in this study during specific time periods. For example, incorporating strategies to reduce mother–child co-participation in sedentary behaviour, increase mothers’ provision of opportunities to be active, increase mothers’ own LPA and minimise sedentary time during the morning and afternoon periods may be

Practical implications

  • Intervention programmes could focus on reducing mother–child co-participation in sedentary behaviour, increasing mothers’ provision of opportunities to be active, increasing mothers’ own LPA and minimising their sedentary time.

  • Different strategies may be needed to target children's LPA compared to their MVPA.

  • Intervention programmes conducted with families of young children may be most effective targeting mornings or afternoons and need to consider balancing maternal physical activity with

Acknowledgements

Funding for the study was provided by the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Deakin University. JH was supported by a Deakin University Postgraduate Research Scholarship (International). NDR was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DE120101173). JS is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship APP1026216. KDH is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship (FT130100637) and an

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