Journal of physical activity & health最新文献

Background: This study examined the after-school activities of Japanese elementary school children in which little information is available for understanding the process by which participation in organized activities leads to the decrease in children's independent mobility.

Methods: One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four mothers of elementary school children participated in an online survey. The mothers responded to the questions on the number of lessons (or cram schools) their children attended weekdays, as well as their children's behavior after classes, and parents providing transportation when their children go out to play.

Results: The proportion of children attending lessons and/or cram schools increased as their grades progressed. A significant interaction existed between the degree of parental transportation and grade in terms of whether or not the children attended lessons and/or cram schools. Parental involvement included pick up or drop-off for a large percentage of younger children without lessons, whereas the degree of parental involvement was greater for older children attending lessons. In other words, parents of children without attending lessons or cram schools tended to allow children to engage in independent activities when they reached the higher grades, whereas parents of children who frequently attended lessons and cram schools tended to remain involved in transporting their children, even when they reached the higher grades.

Conclusions: The results suggested that the participation of children in organized activities leads to a routine of parental pickup and/or drop-off, which renders difficult the facilitation of opportunities for children to independently participate in play activities.

Background: National physical activity (PA) policy processes are only beginning to be studied in Latin America, and little attention has focused at the subnational level. This study examined national-subnational relations in the policy process (agenda setting, policy formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation) in selected Latin American countries.

Methods: The Global Observatory for Physical Activity's (GoPA!) INTEGRATE-PA-Pol tool was applied in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Mexico. Data were collected in matched pairs of the capital plus one noncapital city among national and subnational policymakers (n = 27), previously identified by the GoPA! Country Contacts. PA policy development and implementation were assessed using descriptive statistics.

Results: Twenty-three (response rate = 85.2%) informants provided data, mainly from the health sector (52.2%), followed by the sport (26.1%), transport (13.0%), and education (8.7%) sectors. Most informants reported that their countries had a current PA policy embedded within noncommunicable diseases prevention plans (46.2%), other plans (46.2%), or obesity prevention/management/control plans (7.7%). Respondents at the subnational level rated PA promotion as central (64.3%), while the national-level role was important but not central (75.0%). National and subnational policymakers indicated low-to-little involvement in the other level's PA policy processes across the 5 policy stages.

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that collecting national and subnational PA policy data across countries with the active collaboration of the GoPA! network was feasible. We also successfully identified governmental interactions throughout the PA policy process, suggesting suboptimal engagement between national and subnational levels.

Background: Population-level physical activity increases are improbable without intersectoral collaboration across government levels and sectors to develop and implement physical activity promotion policies. This study aims to provide information about the development of the Interaction between National and Local Government Levels in Development and Implementation of Physical Activity Policies Tool (INTEGRATE PA-Pol). A framework was created to examine the development and implementation of national and subnational physical activity policies and the (mis)alignment between government levels.

Methods: The work was conducted in 3 phases: (1) a scoping review was carried out to identify local government physical activity promotion policies and instruments for assessing them, (2) an expert group designed 6 questionnaires, and (3) cognitive response testing was employed for validity testing and item modification with a panel of research and policy experts.

Results: The INTEGRATE PA-Pol Tool consists of 6 questionnaires assessing how national and subnational governments collaborate to develop and implement physical activity promotion policies.

Conclusion: This tool can assist in better understanding the development and implementation of a public policy monitoring system that will allow for benchmarking and priority setting to comprehend how physical activity promotion policies are designed and executed.

Background: There is a lack of evidence regarding 24-hour movement behaviors of young children from low- and middle-income countries. This study examined Mongolian preschoolers' adherence to the World Health Organization's guidelines for physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep; their associations with health indicators, and the feasibility of the SUNRISE International study in Mongolia.

Methods: Preschool-aged children were recruited from 5 kindergartens in urban and rural areas of Ulaanbaatar city and Tuv province in Mongolia. Physical activity and sedentary behavior were measured by an ActiGraph accelerometer worn for 5 consecutive days. Screen time and sleep were reported by parents. The National Institute of Health and Early Years Toolboxes were used to assess motor skills and executive function, respectively.

Results: One hundred and one children participated in the study (mean age = 4.82 y, boys = 58), with 88% (n = 89) having complete data for analysis. The proportion of children who met the recommendations for physical activity, sedentary screen time, and sleep was 61%, 23%, and 82%, respectively. Only 7% met all recommendations. Meeting the sleep recommendation individually (P = .032) and in combination with the physical activity recommendation was associated with better gross (P = .019) and fine (P = .042) motor skills. Spending more time in physical activity was positively correlated with motor development. Results confirmed that the SUNRISE study protocol was feasible, age-appropriate, and enjoyable for children.

Conclusions: The results of the SUNRISE pilot study will help inform the SUNRISE Mongolia main study and lay the groundwork for future research into children's 24-hour movement behaviors in Mongolia.

Background: Autistic children can benefit from physical activity (PA) in a variety of ways. However, autistic children tend not to meet PA recommendations and, consequently, may not experience the associated benefits. Parental PA support can facilitate PA participation among autistic children, but parents of autistic children may lack the skills to help their child engage in PA. Few studies, to date, have examined the outcomes of parent-mediated PA interventions for autistic children. The purpose of this study was to explore parents' perceived behavioral control (PBC) to support their autistic children in PA after their participation in a PA intervention.

Methods: The theory of planned behavior served as the framework for this descriptive-qualitative investigation. Fifteen parents (each with 1 autistic child in the intervention) participated in semistructured interviews (3 wk after the intervention), which were transcribed and then analyzed using thematic line-by-line analysis.

Results: Three themes characterized the changes to parents' PBC after completing the PA intervention. Those themes were: (1) I learned by son! (2) You are my coach! and (3) I can do it!

Conclusions: The results showed that by participating in a parent-mediated PA intervention, parents experienced improved confidence and awareness of their child's abilities, thus enhancing their PBC. Future research is needed to examine how these improvements in PBC may influence the actual PA behaviors of autistic children.

Background: Although 24-hour movement behaviors are known to be interconnected, limited knowledge exists about whether change in one behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic (eg, increased screen time) was associated with change in another (eg, reduced physical activity or sleep). This review estimates mediational associations between changes in children's physical activity, screen time, and sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We included studies published between January 1, 2020 and June 27, 2022, in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science databases. Summary data were extracted from included studies and analyzed with random-effects meta-regression.

Results: This review included 26 studies representing 18,959 children across 18 mid-high-income countries (53% male; mean age, 11.5 [2.9] y). There was very good evidence of decreased total daily physical activity (factor change, 0.62; 90% CI, 0.47-0.81) and strong evidence of increased screen time (1.56; 90% CI, 1.38-1.77). There was very good evidence of decreased moderate to vigorous physical activity (0.75; 90% CI, 0.62-0.90) and weak evidence of increased sleep (1.02; 90% CI, 1.00-1.04). Mediational analysis revealed strong evidence that most of the reduction in total daily physical activity from before, to during, the pandemic was associated with increased screen time (0.53; 90% CI, 0.42-0.67). We observed no further mediational associations.

Conclusion: Increased reliance on and use of screen-based devices during the COVID-19 pandemic can be linked with reduced child and adolescent physical activity. This finding links COVID-related restrictions to potential displacement effects within child and adolescent 24-hour movement behavior.