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Compliance with the Australian 24-hour movement guidelines for the early years: associations with weight status
Rute Santos1,2, Zhiguang Zhang3, João R Pereira3,4
1Early Start, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia. rutes@uow.edu.au.
Insights
Only 8.9% of Australian toddlers met the 24-hour movement guidelines. Compliance with these guidelines, including physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep, was not significantly associated with body mass index (BMI) z-scores in early childhood.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Child Development
Background:
- Effective public health surveillance requires understanding young children's adherence to the Australian Integrated 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years.
- Assessing guideline compliance and its association with health outcomes, specifically weight status, is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the proportion of Australian toddlers meeting the Integrated 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years.
- To determine if adherence to these guidelines correlates with body mass index (BMI) z-scores in toddlers.
Main Methods:
- 202 toddlers (aged 19.74 ± 4.07 months) participated in the study.
- Objective measurement of physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep using accelerometers for 7 consecutive days.
- Parent-reported screen time, with weight and height measured to calculate BMI z-scores; ANCOVA used for statistical analysis.
Main Results:
- Only 8.9% of toddlers met all 24-hour movement guidelines; 96.5% met physical activity and 79.7% met sleep guidelines, but only 11.4% met sedentary behavior guidelines.
- No significant differences in BMI z-scores were found between toddlers meeting none, some, or all three guidelines (p > 0.05).
- A trend suggested lower BMI z-scores for those meeting two or all three guidelines compared to those meeting fewer.
Conclusions:
- A low percentage of Australian toddlers adhere to the 24-hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years, particularly regarding sedentary behavior.
- No direct association was found between meeting the 24-hour movement guidelines and toddler BMI.
- Strategies promoting adherence, especially for screen time, are vital for establishing healthy lifelong habits in early childhood.
Background:
For effective public health and surveillance it is important to document the proportion of young children who meet the new Australian Integrated 24 h Movement Guidelines for the Early Years and how these associate with health outcomes. We aimed to (i) assess compliance with the new Integrated 24 h Movement Guidelines for the Early Years in a sample of Australian toddlers; and (ii) ascertain whether compliance with the guidelines associates with weight status.
Methods:
The sample comprised 202 toddlers (104 girls) aged 19.74 ± 4.07 months from the GET UP!
Study:
Participants wore accelerometers (Actigraph GT3X+) for 24 h over 7 consecutive days to assess physical activity, sedentary time and sleep. Parents reported participants' screen time. Weight and height were measured and body mass index (BMI) z-scores by age and sex were calculated. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to test differences in BMI z-scores between participants complying with (i) none or any individual guideline, (ii) any combination of meeting two guidelines, and (iii) those who met all three guidelines, adjusting for child age, gender and socioeconomic status.
Results:
Only 8.9% of the sample met the overall 24 h movement guidelines. Most of the sample met the physical activity (96.5%) and sleep (79.7%) guidelines but only 11.4% met the sedentary behavior guideline. Average BMI Z-scores did not significantly differ between children who complied with none or any individual guideline, any combination of meeting two guidelines, and those who met all three guidelines (p > 0.05). Although the lack of significant differences, participants who accomplished any combination of two guidelines or all three guidelines appear to have had a lower BMI Z-score than those complying with one of the guidelines or none.
Conclusions:
Just under 9% of our sample met the overall Australian 24 h Movement Guidelines for the Early Years. BMI was not associated with the accomplishment of any of the 24-h Movement Guidelines. Strategies to promote adherence to the 24-h movement guidelines in toddlers, particularly for screen time, are necessary, as promoting health-related behaviors in early childhood has the potential to provide children a strong foundation for lifelong physical and mental health.
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