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Associations between daily ambient temperature and sedentary time among children 4-6 years old in Mexico City
Sandy Wong1, Alejandra Cantoral2, Martha María Téllez-Rojo2
1Department of Environmental Medicine & Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America.
Insights
Higher daily temperatures are linked to less sedentary time in young children. This finding suggests temperature is a key environmental factor influencing children's sedentary behavior, important for public health interventions.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Pediatric Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Sedentary behavior is a significant global public health issue linked to increased mortality and morbidity.
- Early assessment of environmental factors is crucial for understanding and intervening in children's sedentary time.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between daily temperature variations and sedentary time in 4-6 year old children.
- To explore the impact of maximum, mean, minimum, and diurnal temperature variations on children's sedentary behavior.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a hybrid satellite-based land use regression model for temperature assessment.
- Measured daily sedentary time using accelerometers worn by 559 children in Mexico City.
- Employed generalized additive models (GAMs) adjusted for demographic and environmental factors.
Main Results:
- Significant negative linear relationships were found between maximum temperature, mean temperature, diurnal variation, and all-day sedentary time (p<0.01).
- A 1°C increase in maximum temperature correlated with a 0.26% decrease in sedentary time.
- A 1°C increase in mean temperature correlated with a 0.27% decrease in sedentary time, and a 1°C increase in diurnal variation correlated with a 0.23% decrease in sedentary time.
Conclusions:
- Contrary to the hypothesis, temperature showed a linear, not curvilinear, relationship with sedentary time.
- Temperature is identified as an important environmental determinant of sedentary behavior in young children.
Background:
Sedentary behavior is a worldwide public health concern. There is consistent and growing evidence linking sedentary behavior to mortality and morbidity. Early monitoring and assessment of environmental factors associated with sedentary behaviors at a young age are important initial steps for understanding children's sedentary time and identifying pertinent interventions.
Objective:
This study examines the association between daily temperature (maximum, mean, minimum, and diurnal variation) and all-day sedentary time among 4-6 year old children in Mexico City (n = 559) from the year 2013 to 2015.
Methods:
We developed a spatiotemporally resolved hybrid satellite-based land use regression temperature model and calculated percent daily sedentary time from aggregating 10-second epoch vertical counts captured by accelerometers that participants wore for one week. We modeled generalized additive models (GAMs), one for each temperature type as a covariate (maximum, mean, minimum, and diurnal variation). All GAMs included percent all-day sedentary time as the outcome and participant-level random intercepts to account for repeated measures of sedentary time. Our models were adjusted for demographic factors and environmental exposures.
Results:
Daily maximum temperature, mean temperature, and diurnal variation have significant negative linear relationships with all-day sedentary time (p<0.01). There is no significant association between daily minimum temperature and all-day sedentary time. Children have on average 0.26% less daily sedentary time (approximately 2.2 minutes) for each 1°C increase in ambient maximum temperature (range 7.1-30.2°C), 0.27% less daily sedentary time (approximately 2.3 minutes) for each 1°C increase in ambient mean temperature (range 4.3-22.2°C), and 0.23% less daily sedentary time (approximately 2.0 minutes) for each 1°C increase in diurnal variation (range 3.0-21.6°C).
Conclusions:
These results are contrary to our hypothesis in which we expected a curvilinear relationship between temperature (maximum, mean, minimum, and diurnal variation) and sedentary time. Our findings suggest that temperature is an important environmental factor that influences children's sedentary behavior.
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