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Prevalence of toddlers meeting 24-hour movement guidelines and associations with parental perceptions and practices
Elise Rivera1, Kylie D Hesketh1, Liliana Orellana2
1Deakin University, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Locked Bag 20001, Geelong, Victoria 3220, Australia.
Insights
Only 20% of toddlers met all 24-hour Movement Guidelines. Parental knowledge and practices significantly influenced toddlers' adherence to physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep recommendations.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Behavioral Science
Background:
- Toddlers' adherence to 24-hour Movement Guidelines is not well understood.
- Parental factors influencing toddlers' movement behaviors require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- Estimate the proportion of toddlers meeting individual and combined movement guidelines.
- Examine associations between parental perceptions/practices and toddlers' compliance with movement guidelines.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 1145 Australian toddlers and their parents.
- Parental self-report of practices and perceptions (routines, co-participation, restrictions, concerns, knowledge).
- WHO guidelines used to assess compliance; logistic models for associations.
Main Results:
- 20.1% of toddlers met all movement guidelines; 2.1% met none.
- Parental knowledge, fewer concerns, and favorable restrictions were linked to higher compliance.
- Routines and co-participation moderated adherence to specific guidelines (screen time, physical activity).
Conclusions:
- Strategies are needed to promote healthy movement behaviors in early childhood, particularly regarding screen time.
- Parental practices and perceptions identified in this study can inform interventions to support optimal toddler movement behaviors.
Objectives:
Whether toddlers (1-2 years) meet 24-hour Movement Guidelines and how parental practices and perceptions are related to compliance are uncertain. This study: a) estimated the proportion of toddlers meeting individual and combined movement guidelines; and b) examined associations between parental perceptions/practices and toddlers' compliance with movement guidelines.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Methods:
Australian parents self-reported their parenting practices/perceptions (routines, co-participation, restrictions, concerns, knowledge) and toddlers' movement behaviours in the baseline assessment of Let's Grow (n=1145), a randomised controlled trial. The World Health Organization's Guidelines on Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviour, and Sleep for children under 5 years were used to estimate the prevalence of compliance with individual and combined movement guidelines. Logistic models assessed cross-sectional associations.
Results:
The prevalence of meeting guidelines was 30.9% for screen time, 82.3% for sleep, 81.6% for physical activity, 20.1% for combined, and 2.1% meeting none. Parents' knowledge of the guidelines, fewer concerns and more favourable restrictions concerning movement behaviours were associated with greater compliance with individual and combined movement guidelines. Routines for screen time and for combined behaviours were associated with adherence to their respective guidelines. Less co-participation in screen time and more co-participation in physical activity were associated with greater compliance with the relevant guidelines.
Conclusions:
Given only 20% of toddlers met all guidelines, strategies early in life to establish healthy movement behaviours, especially screen time, are needed. Future studies could target the parental practices/perceptions identified in this study to support toddlers with optimal sleep and physical activity and reduced screen time.
