Do sedentary behaviors mediate associations between socio-demographic characteristics and BMI in women living in socio-economically disadvantaged neighborhoods?

Women living in deprived neighborhoods are a risk group for overweight and obesity, particularly during the childbearing years. Several socio-demographic characteristics may compound this risk, but little is known about why this might be the case. Sedentary behaviors are emerging as a socio-demographically patterned risk factor for obesity. The purpose of the present study was to assess socio-demographic differences in sedentary behaviors, and to examine whether these behaviors could explain the relation between socio-demographic variables and BMI (BMI) in this risk group

The effect of a kindergarten-based, family-involved intervention on objectively measured physical activity in Belgian preschool boys and girls of high and low SES: the ToyBox-study

BACKGROUND: The ToyBox-study developed an evidence- and theory-based intervention to improve preschoolers\u27 energy balance-related behaviours - including physical activity (PA) - by targeting the kindergarten environment and involving their parents/caregivers. The present study aimed to examine the effect of the ToyBox-intervention on increasing Belgian preschoolers\u27 objectively measured PA levels. METHODS: A sample of 472 preschoolers (4.43 ± 0.55 years; 55.1% boys) from 27 kindergartens (15 intervention, 12 control kindergartens) in Flanders, Belgium were included in the data analyses. Preschoolers wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for six consecutive days and were included in the data analyses if they had a minimum of two weekdays and one weekend day, both at baseline and follow-up (one year later). Preschoolers\u27 PA outcomes were estimated for an average day, weekday, weekend day, during school hours, and during after school hours. To assess intervention effects, multilevel repeated measures analyses were conducted for the total sample, and for sub-groups (according to sex, kindergarten levels of socio-economic status (SES) and risk groups (low levels of PA at baseline)) of preschoolers. RESULTS: Small intervention effects were found in the total sample. Most intervention effects were found in boys and in preschoolers from high SES kindergartens. Boys from the intervention group had an increase in vigorous PA (ß=1.47, p=0.03) and moderate-to-vigorous PA (ß=1.27, p=0.03) from baseline to follow-up, whereas PA levels in boys from the control group stagnated or decreased. In preschoolers from high SES kindergartens, the largest effects were found for PA outcomes during school hours and during after school hours. CONCLUSION: The results from the Belgian sample demonstrate that effects of the PA-component of the ToyBox-intervention on objectively measured PA were found in preschool boys and in preschoolers from high SES kindergartens, which means that the ToyBox-intervention was mainly effective in those sub-groups. Future interventions should search for alternative strategies to increase preschoolers\u27 PA levels in preschool girls and preschoolers from low SES kindergartens, as these are the most important at-risk groups regarding PA

Patterns of objectively measured sedentary time in 10- to 12-year-old Belgian children: an observational study within the ENERGY-project

BACKGROUND: This study examined the frequency of and differences in sedentary bouts of different durations and the total time spent in sedentary bouts on a weekday, a weekend day, during school hours, during after-school hours and in the evening period in a sample of 10- to 12-year-old Belgian children. METHODS: Accelerometer data were collected as part of the ENERGY-project in Belgium (n = 577, 10.9 ± 0.7 years, 53% girls) in 2011. Differences in total sedentary time, sedentary bouts of 2-5, 5-10, 10-20, 20-30 and ≥30 min and total time accumulated in those bouts were examined on a weekday, a weekend day, during school hours, during after-school hours and in the evening period, using multilevel analyses in MLwiN 2.22. RESULTS: More than 60% of the participants\u27 waking time was spent sedentary. Children typically engaged in short sedentary bouts of 2-5 and 5-10 min, which contributed almost 50% towards their total daily sedentary time. Although the differences were very small, children engaged in significantly fewer sedentary bouts of nearly all durations during after-school hours compared to during school hours and in the evening period. Children also engaged in significantly fewer sedentary bouts of 5-10, 10-20, and 20-30 min per hour on a weekend day than on a weekday. CONCLUSIONS: Although primary school children spend more than 60% of their waking time sedentary, they generally engaged in short sedentary bouts. Children\u27s sedentary bouts were slightly longer on weekdays, particularly during school hours and in the evening period, although the differences were very small. These results suggest that in this age group, interventions focusing on reducing total sedentary time rather than interrupting prolonged sedentary time are needed

Results from Flanders' 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

status: publishe

The use and evaluation of self-regulation techniques can predict health goal attainment in adults: an explorative study

Background. Self-regulation tools are not always used optimally, and implementation intention plans often lack quality. Therefore, this study explored participants’ use and evaluation of self-regulation techniques and their impact on goal attainment. Methods. Data were obtained from 452 adults in a proof of concept (POC) intervention of ‘MyPlan’, an eHealth intervention using self-regulation techniques to promote three healthy behaviours (physical activity (PA), fruit intake, or vegetable intake). Participants applied self-regulation techniques to a self-selected health behaviour, and evaluated the self-regulation techniques. The quality of implementation intentions was rated by the authors as a function of instrumentality (instrumental and non-instrumental) and specificity (non-specific and medium to highly specific). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to predict goal attainment. Results. Goal attainment was significantly predicted by the motivational value of the personal advice (OR:1.86), by the specificity of the implementation intentions (OR:3.5), by the motivational value of the action plan (OR:1.86), and by making a new action plan at follow-up (OR:4.10). Interaction-effects with behaviour showed that the specificity score of the implementation intention plans (OR:4.59), the motivational value of the personal advice (OR:2.38), selecting hindering factors and solutions(OR:2.00) and making a new action plan at follow-up (OR:7.54) were predictive of goal attainment only for fruit or vegetable intake. Also, when participants in the fruit and vegetable group made more than three plans, they were more likely to attain their goal (OR:1.73), whereas the reverse was the case in the PA group (OR:0.34). Discussion. The chance that adults reach fruit and vegetable goals can be increased by including motivating personal advice, self-formulated action plans, and instructions/strategies to make specific implementation intentions into eHealth interventions. To increase the chance that adults reach short-term PA goals, it is suggested to keep eHealth PA interventions simple and focus only on developing a few implementation intentions. However, more research is needed to identify behaviour change techniques that can increase health goal attainment at long-term

Psychosocial factors related to sleep in adolescents and their willingness to participate in the development of a healthy sleep intervention : a focus group study

Background Over the last decades, adolescents' sleep has deteriorated, suggesting the need for effective healthy sleep interventions. To develop such interventions, it is important to first gather insight into the possible factors related to sleep. Moreover, previous research has indicated that chances of intervention effectivity could be increased by actively involving adolescents when developing such interventions. This study examined psychosocial factors related to sleep in adolescents and investigated adolescents' willingness to participate in the development of a healthy sleep intervention. Methods Nine focus group interviews were conducted with seventy-two adolescents (63.9% girls, 14.8 (+/- 1.0) years) using a standardized interview guide. Interviews were audio-recorded and thematic content analysis was performed using Nvivo 11. Results Adolescents showed limited knowledge concerning sleep guidelines, sleep hygiene and the long-term consequences of sleep deficiency, but they demonstrated adequate knowledge of the short-term consequences. Positive attitudes towards sleep were outweighed by positive attitudes towards other behaviors such as screen time. In addition, adolescents reported leisure activities, the use of smartphones and television, high amounts of schoolwork, early school start time and excessive worrying as barriers for healthy sleep. Perceived behavioral control towards changing sleep was reported to be low and norms about sufficient sleep among peers were perceived as negative. Although some adolescents indicated that parental rules provoke feelings of frustration, others indicated these have a positive influence on their sleep. Finally, adolescents emphasized that it would be important to allow students to participate in the development process of healthy sleep interventions at school, although adult supervision would be necessary. Conclusion Future interventions promoting healthy sleep in adolescents could focus on enhancing knowledge of sleep guidelines, sleep hygiene and the consequences of sleep deficiency, and on enhancing perceived behavioral control towards changing sleep. Interventions could also focus on prioritizing positive sleep attitudes over positive attitudes towards screen time, finding solutions for barriers towards healthy sleep and creating a positive perceived norm regarding healthy sleep. Involving adolescents in intervention development could lead to intervention components that match their specific needs and are more attractive for them

Description of peer, parental and personal variables.

<p>Description of peer, parental and personal variables.</p

Visual presentation of the significant mediators on the association between peer and parental variables and girls’ total physical activity.

<p>Visual presentation of the significant mediators on the association between peer and parental variables and girls’ total physical activity.</p

Sample characteristics and descriptive statistics.

<p>Sample characteristics and descriptive statistics.</p