Are interventions to promote physical activity in children a waste of time?

Are interventions to promote physical activity in children a waste of time

Television viewing time and risk of incident obesity and central obesity: the English longitudinal study of ageing

Background: Research suggests television viewing time may be associated with incident obesity and central obesity in young adults. No study has investigated these associations in older English adults. The aim of this study was to investigate longitudinal associations between television viewing time and incident obesity and central obesity in a sample of older English adults. Analyses of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. At baseline (2008), participants reported their television viewing time. Research nurses recorded obesity and central obesity by body mass index and waist circumference, respectively, at four year follow-up. Associations between television viewing time and incident obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2 ) and central obesity (waist >102 cm men; > 88 cm women) at four year follow-up were examined using adjusted logistic regression. Participants gave full written informed consent to participate in the study and ethical approval was obtained from the London Multicentre Research Ethics Committee. Results: A total of 3777 initially non-obese participants (aged 64.8 ± 8.6 yrs, 46.4% male) were included in the analyses using BMI as an outcome and 2947 for the analyses using waist circumference. No significant associations were found between television viewing time and incident obesity. A significant association was found between watching ≥6 hrs/d of television (compared to <2 hrs/d) and central obesity (Odds Ratio 1.48; 95% confidence interval 1.07 to 2.03) after adjustment for covariables including physical activity. Conclusions: In this sample of older community dwelling English adults greater television viewing time was associated with incident central obesity, but not total obesity when measured by BMI. Interventions to reduce the incidence of central obesity in this age group that focus on reducing TV time, as well as targeting other health behaviours (eg, increasing physical activity levels, improving dietary intake) might prove useful

Mothers' perceived proximity to green space is associated with TV viewing time in children: the Growing Up in Scotland study

Objective. The aim of this study is to investigate whether mothers' perception of distance from home to green/ open spaces is associated with their child's screen time. Method. We used mother-reported data from sweep six (2010–2011) of the Growing Up in Scotland study (n = 3586 children aged 5.9 yrs) to examine associations between walking distance from home to green/open space and screen time (TV viewing time/computer use). Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and other prespecified covariates, including sport/exercise participation, mental and general health, birth weight, parental socio-economic group (SEG) and smoking status. Results. Children living the furthest distance from green/open spaces (N20 minutes' walking distance) displayed over 2 h (95% CI, 0.65 to 3.51) more weekly TV time than the reference category (b5 minutes' walking distance). Compared to children in the reference category, those in the N20 minute category had worse mental health (mean SDQ [Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire] score ± SD, 7.0 ± 4.6 vs. 8.7 ± 6.2) and general health (% fair–poor, 4.6 vs. 8.6), and were more likely to come from lower SEG households. Conclusion. Mothers' perceived distance from home to green/open spaces was associated with child's TV time at age 5.9 years

Aggio et al. Respond to "Lessons for Research on Cognitive Aging"

Aggio et al. Respond to "Lessons for Research on Cognitive Aging

Mothers' perceived proximity to green space is associated with TV viewing time in children: the Growing Up in Scotland study

Objective. The aim of this study is to investigate whether mothers' perception of distance from home to green/ open spaces is associated with their child's screen time. Method. We used mother-reported data from sweep six (2010–2011) of the Growing Up in Scotland study (n = 3586 children aged 5.9 yrs) to examine associations between walking distance from home to green/open space and screen time (TV viewing time/computer use). Analyses were adjusted for age, sex and other prespecified covariates, including sport/exercise participation, mental and general health, birth weight, parental socio-economic group (SEG) and smoking status. Results. Children living the furthest distance from green/open spaces (N20 minutes' walking distance) displayed over 2 h (95% CI, 0.65 to 3.51) more weekly TV time than the reference category (b5 minutes' walking distance). Compared to children in the reference category, those in the N20 minute category had worse mental health (mean SDQ [Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire] score ± SD, 7.0 ± 4.6 vs. 8.7 ± 6.2) and general health (% fair–poor, 4.6 vs. 8.6), and were more likely to come from lower SEG households. Conclusion. Mothers' perceived distance from home to green/open spaces was associated with child's TV time at age 5.9 years

Weekday and weekend patterns of objectively measured sitting, standing, and stepping in a sample of office-based workers: the active buildings study

Background: There is a growing body of research into the total amount and patterns of sitting, standing and stepping in office-based workers and few studies using objectively measured sitting and standing. Understanding these patterns may identify daily times opportune for interventions to displace sitting with activity. Methods: A sample of office-based workers (n = 164) residing in England were fitted with thigh-worn ActivPal accelerometers and devices were worn 24 hours a day for five consecutive days, always including Saturday and Sunday and during bathing and sleeping. Daily amounts and patterns of time spent sitting, standing, stepping and step counts and frequency of sit/stand transitions, recorded by the ActivPal accelerometer, were reported. Results: Total sitting/standing time was similar on weekdays (10.6/4.1 hrs) and weekends (10.6/4.3 hrs). Total step count was also similar over weekdays (9682 ± 3872) and weekends (9518 ± 4615). The highest physical activity levels during weekdays were accrued at 0700 to 0900, 1200 to 1400, and 1700 to 1900; and during the weekend at 1000 to 1700. During the weekday the greatest amount of sitting was accrued at 0900 to 1200, 1400 to 1700, and 2000 to 2300, and on the weekend between 1800 and 2300. During the weekday the greatest amount of standing was accrued between 0700 and 1000 and 1700 and 2100, and on the weekend between 1000 and 1800. On the weekday the highest number of sit/stand transitions occurred between 0800 to 0900 and remained consistently high until 1800. On the weekend, the highest number occurred between 1000 to 1400 and 1900 to 2000. Conclusion: Office based-workers demonstrate high levels of sitting during both the working week and weekend. Interventions that target the working day and the evenings (weekday and weekend) to displace sitting with activity may offer most promise for reducing population levels of sedentary behaviour and increasing physical activity levels, in office-based workers residing in England

Active buildings: modelling physical activity and movement in office buildings. An observational study protocol

Introduction: Health benefits of regular participation in physical activity are well documented but population levels are low. Office layout, and in particular the number and location of office building destinations (eg, print and meeting rooms), may influence both walking time and characteristics of sitting time. No research to date has focused on the role that the layout of the indoor office environment plays in facilitating or inhibiting step counts and characteristics of sitting time. The primary aim of this study was to investigate associations between office layout and physical activity, as well as sitting time using objective measures. Methods and analysis Active buildings is a unique collaboration between public health, built environment and computer science researchers. The study involves objective monitoring complemented by a larger questionnaire arm. UK office buildings will be selected based on a variety of features, including office floor area and number of occupants. Questionnaires will include items on standard demographics, well-being, physical activity behaviour and putative socioecological correlates of workplace physical activity. Based on survey responses, approximately 30 participants will be recruited from each building into the objective monitoring arm. Participants will wear accelerometers (to monitor physical activity and sitting inside and outside the office) and a novel tracking device will be placed in the office (to record participant location) for five consecutive days. Data will be analysed using regression analyses, as well as novel agent-based modelling techniques. Ethics and dissemination The results of this study will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and scientific presentations. Ethical approval was obtained through the University College London Research Ethics Committee (Reference number 4400/001)

Participant characteristics (n = 280).

<p>Data are from 280 children who were present in school years 4 and 5.</p><p>Values are means and standard deviations unless otherwise stated.</p>†<p>Age- and gender-adjusted standard deviation scores relative to the 1990 UK reference data.</p><p>**significantly higher than baseline at p<0.001.</p><p>*FMI n = 278.</p><p>Ethnicities coded as other included Iranian, South American, Afghani).</p

Flow of participants through the PEACHES physical activity study.

<p>There were no significant differences in sociodemographic data between those who provided full valid data at both time points and those who did not (p's all >0.05).</p

Descriptive characteristics for the study samples (% (n) unless stated otherwise).

<p>BMI = body mass index; SDS = standard deviation score.</p><p>¹Compared to other children of the same age and sex.</p><p>Descriptive characteristics for the study samples (% (n) unless stated otherwise).</p