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Association between Compliance with Movement Behavior Guidelines and Obesity among Malaysian Preschoolers
Shoo Thien Lee1, Jyh Eiin Wong1, Geraldine K L Chan2
1Center for Community Health Studies (ReaCH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 50300, Malaysia.
Insights
Malaysian preschoolers often fall short of daily movement behavior guidelines for physical activity, screen time, and sleep. Meeting these guidelines, however, is linked to a reduced risk of overweight and obesity in young children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Child Development
Background:
- Maintaining a healthy balance of physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and sleep is crucial for the well-being of young children.
- Understanding the 24-hour movement behaviors of preschoolers is essential for addressing childhood obesity.
- Current guidelines for physical activity, screen time, and sleep exist for this age group.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between 24-hour movement behaviors and weight status in Malaysian children aged 4 to 6 years.
- To assess the compliance of preschoolers with physical activity, screen time, and sleep guidelines.
- To identify the relationship between adherence to movement behavior guidelines and the prevalence of overweight and obesity.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 230 preschoolers from Kuala Lumpur kindergartens.
- Objective measurement of physical activity using accelerometers (Actical).
- Parental proxy-reporting for screen time and sleep duration.
Main Results:
- Preschoolers averaged 5.5 hours of physical activity, 3.0 hours of screen time, and 9.5 hours of sleep daily.
- Low compliance rates were observed: 48.7% met physical activity guidelines, 55.2% met sleep guidelines, and only 25.2% met screen time recommendations.
- A significant finding was that children meeting any two guidelines were less likely to be overweight or obese (OR: 0.276).
Conclusions:
- Malaysian preschoolers demonstrate poor adherence to 24-hour movement behavior guidelines, particularly concerning screen time.
- Compliance with physical activity, screen time, and sleep recommendations is associated with a lower likelihood of being overweight or obese.
- Interventions promoting adherence to movement behavior guidelines may help mitigate childhood obesity risks in this population.
Abstract:
A daily balance of physical activities, sedentary behaviors and sleep are important for maintaining the health of young children. The aim of this study is to explore the association between 24-h movement behavior of Malaysian children aged 4 to 6 years with weight status. A total of 230 preschoolers were recruited from 22 kindergartens in Kuala Lumpur. Physical activity was assessed by Actical accelerometer while screen time and sleep duration were proxy-reported by parents. Children spent on average 5.5 ± 1.3 h on total physical activity (including 1.0 ± 0.4 h of moderate- vigorous physical activity), 3.0 ± 1.6 h on screen activities and 9.5 ± 1.3 h sleeping daily. The proportion of children who complied with physical activity and sleep guidelines were 48.7% and 55.2%, respectively. About 25.2% of children met screen time recommendation. Only 6.5% of children met all three age-specific physical activity, screen time and sleep guidelines. Children who met any two guidelines were less likely to be overweight or obesity compared to those who did not meet any of the guidelines (OR: 0.276; 95% CI: 0.080-0.950). In conclusion, Malaysian preschoolers have low compliance to movement behavior guidelines, especially in meeting screen time recommendations. Compliance to movement behavior guidelines was associated with lower odds of overweight and obesity.
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