Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Previous studies have shown that children who spend more time outdoors are more active and spend less time sedentary, but these studies were limited by the use of small convenience samples. We examined the relationship between outdoor time and measures of physical activity (PA), screen time and sedentary time in a nationally-representative sample of young children.
METHODS: Parental reports of outdoor time were obtained for 594 children aged 3–6 years (47.8% girls) who participated in the 2012–2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey. Participants were asked to wear an Actical accelerometer for seven consecutive days. Outdoor time and screen time were assessed by parent reports. The relationships between outdoor time and measures of PA, screen time and sedentary time were examined with linear regression models. Adherence to PA guidelines was estimated based on a betabinomial distribution, and adherence with the screen time guidelines was assessed through logistic regression models. All analyses were stratified by age group (3–4 and 5–6 year olds) and adjusted for sex, parental education and household income.
RESULTS: Among 5–6 year olds, each additional hour spent outdoors was associated with an additional 10 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (95% CI: 6–14), 27,455 more accelerometer counts/day (95% CI: 11,929–42,980) and an increased likelihood of meeting the PA guidelines (OR = 2.53; 95% CI: 1.68–3.82). No significant relationships were observed among 3–4 year olds.
CONCLUSION: Outdoor time has a large effect on PA among 5–6 year olds at a population level. Future studies should examine the correlates of outdoor time to inform novel PA promotion interventions.
Key Words: Motor activity, child, television, surveys and questionnaires
Résumé
OBJECTIFS: Des études précédentes ont montré que les enfants qui passent plus de temps dehors sont plus actifs et consacrent moins de temps aux activités sédentaires, mais ces études sont limitées par l’utilisation d’échantillons de convenance. Nous avons examiné les relations entre le temps passé dehors et des mesures de l’activité physique (AP), du temps d’écran et du temps sédentaire auprès d’un échantillon pancanadien de jeunes enfants.
MÉTHODES: Les parents de 594 enfants de 3 à 6 ans (47,8 % filles) ayant participé à l’Enquête canadienne sur les mesures de la santé ont rapporté le temps passé dehors et le temps d’écran de leur enfant. Les participants ont été invités à porter un accéléromètre Actical durant sept jours consécutifs. Les relations entre le temps passé dehors et les mesures de l’AP, du temps d’écran et du temps sédentaire ont été examinées avec des modèles de régression linéaires. L’adhésion aux directives sur l’AP a été estimée à l’aide d’une loi bêta-binomiale et l’adhésion aux directives sur le temps d’écran a été évaluée avec des modèles de régression logistique. Les modèles ont été stratifiés selon le groupe d’âge (3–4 ans et 5–6 ans) et ajustés selon le sexe, le niveau d’éducation parentale et le revenu du ménage.
RÉSULTATS: Chez les 5–6 ans, chaque heure additionnelle passée dehors était associée à 10 minutes supplémentaires d’AP d’intensité moyenne à élevée (IC 95 %: 6–14), à 27 455 comptes de mouvements supplémentaires (IC 95 %: 11 929–42 980) et à une plus grande probabilité d’adhésion aux directives sur l’AP (RC = 2,53; IC 95 %: 1,68–3,82). Aucune relation significative n’a été observée chez les 3–4 ans.
CONCLUSION: Le temps passé dehors est fortement associé à l’AP chez les jeunes de 5–6 ans au niveau populationnel. Des travaux futurs devraient évaluer les corrélats du temps passé dehors afin de développer des interventions innovatrices pour promouvoir l’AP.
Mots Clés: activité motrice, enfant, télévision, enquêtes et questionnaires
Footnotes
Acknowledgements: Richard Larouche holds a postdoctoral fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Sources of Funding: The 2012–2013 Canadian Health Measures Survey was funded by Statistics Canada, Health Canada, and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Conflict of Interest: None to declare.
References
- 1.Lee IM, Shiroma EJ, Lobelo F, Puska P, Blair SN, Katzmarzyk PT, for the Lancet Physical Activity Series Working Group Effect of physical inactivity on major non-communicable diseases worldwide: An analysis of burden of disease and life expectancy. Lancet. 2012;380(9838):219–29. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61031-9. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 2.Timmons BW, LeBlanc AG, Carson V, Connor Gorber S, Dillman C, Janssen I, et al. Systematic review of physical activity and health in the early years (aged 0–4 years) Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol. 2012;37:773–92. doi: 10.1139/h2012-070. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 3.LeBlanc AG, Spence JC, Carson V, Connor Gorber S, Dillman C, Janssen I, et al. Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in the early years (aged 0–4 years) Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol. 2012;37:753–72. doi: 10.1139/h2012-063. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 4.Tremblay MS, LeBlanc A, Carson V, Choquette L, Connor Gorber S, Dillman C, et al. Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol. 2012;37:345–56. doi: 10.1139/h2012-018. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 5.Tremblay MS, LeBlanc A, Carson V, Choquette L, Connor Gorber S, Dillman C, et al. Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol. 2012;37:370–80. doi: 10.1139/h2012-019. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 6.Tremblay MS, Warburton DER, Janssen I, Paterson DH, Latimer AE, Rhodes RE, et al. New Canadian physical activity guidelines. Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol. 2011;36(1):36–46. doi: 10.1139/H11-009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 7.Tremblay MS, LeBlanc AG, Janssen I, Kho ME, Hicks A, Murumets K, et al. Canadian sedentary behaviour guidelines for children and youth. Appl Physiol Nutr Metabol. 2011;36:59–64. doi: 10.1139/H11-012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 8.Garriguet D, Carson V, Colley RC, Janssen I, Timmons BW, Tremblay MS. Health Rep. 2016;27(9):14–23. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 9.Gray C, Gibbons R, Larouche R, Sandseter EBH, Bienenstock A, Brussoni M, et al. What is the relationship between outdoor time and physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and physical fitness in children? A systematic review. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015;12:6455–74. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120606455. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 10.Burdette HL, Whitaker RC. Resurrecting free play in young children: Looking beyond fitness and fatness to attention, affiliation and affect. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2005;159(1):46–50. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.159.1.46. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 11.Gill T. The benefits of children’s engagement with nature: A systematic literature review. Child Youth Environ. 2014;24(2):10–34. doi: 10.7721/chilyoutenvi.24.2.0010. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 12.Tremblay MS, Gray C, Babcock S, Barnes J, Bradstreet CC, Carr D, et al. Position statement on active outdoor play. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015;12:6475–505. doi: 10.3390/ijerph120606475. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 13.Day B, Langlois R, Tremblay M, Knoppers M. Canadian Health Measures Survey: Ethical, legal and social issues. Health Rep. 2007;18(Suppl):37–51. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 14.Giroux S. Canadian Health Measures Survey: Sampling strategy overview. Health Rep. 2007;18Suppl:31–36. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 15.Tremblay MS, Wolfson M C, Gorber S. Canadian Health Measures Survey: Rationale, background and overview. Health Rep. 2007;18(Suppl):7–20. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 16.Adolph AL, Puyau MR, Vohra FA, Nicklas TA, Zakeri IF, Butte NF. Validation of uniaxial and triaxial accelerometers for the assessment of physical activity in preschool children. J Phys Act Health. 2012;9:944–53. doi: 10.1123/jpah.9.7.944. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 17.Colley R C, Gorber S, Tremblay MS. Quality control and data reduction procedures for accelerometry-derived measures of physical activity. Health Rep. 2010;21(1):63–69. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 18.Colley RC, Harvey A, Grattan KP, Adamo K. Impact of accelerometer epoch length on physical activity and sedentary behavior. Health Rep. 2014;25(1):3–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 19.Larouche R, Garriguet D, Gunnell KE, Goldfield GS, Tremblay MS. Relationship between outdoor time, physical activity, sedentary time, and health-related indicators among children. Health Rep. 2016;27(9):3–13. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 20.Colley RC, Garriguet D, Adamo KB, Carson V, Jansson I, Timmons BW, et al. Physical activity and sedentary behavior during the early years in Canada: A cross-sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2013;10(14):54. doi: 10.1186/1479-5868-10-54. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 21.Kang M, Bjornson K, Barreira TV, Ragan BG, Song K. The minimum number of days required to establish reliable physical activity estimates in children aged 2–15 years. Physiol Meas. 2014;35(11):2229–37. doi: 10.1088/0967-3334/35/11/2229. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 22.Pfeiffer KA, Dowda M, Mclver KL, Pate RR. Factors related to objectively measured physical activity in preschool children. Pediatr Exer Sci. 2009;21:196–208. doi: 10.1123/pes.21.2.196. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 23.Wong SL, Colley R C, Gorber S, Tremblay MS. Actical accelerometer sedentary thresholds for adults. J Phys Act Health. 2011;8:587–91. doi: 10.1123/jpah.8.4.587. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 24.Sterdt E, Liersch S, Walter U. Correlates of physical activity of children and adolescents: A systematic review of reviews. Health Educ J. 2014;73(1):72–89. doi: 10.1177/0017896912469578. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- 25.Garriguet D. Using a betabinomial distribution to estimate the prevalence of adherence to the physical activity guidelines. Health Rep. 2016;27(4):3–9. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 26.Rust KF, Rao JNK. Variance estimation for complex surveys using replication techniques. Stat Methods Med Res. 1996;5(3):283–310. doi: 10.1177/096228029600500305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 27.Larson LR, Green GT, Cordeil HK. Children’s time outdoors: Results and implications of the National Kids Survey. J Park Rec Admin. 2011;29(2):1–20. [Google Scholar]
- 28.Wheeler BW, Cooper AR, Page AS, Jago R. Greenspace and children’s physical activity: A GPS/GIS analysis of the PEACH project. Prev Med. 2010;51(2):148–52. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2010.06.001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 29.Tucker P, Gilliland J. The effect of season and weather on physical activity: A systematic review. Public Health. 2007;121:909–22. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2007.04.009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- 30.Adamo K, Prince SA, Tricco AC, Connor-Gorber S, Tremblay MS. A comparison of indirect versus direct measures for assessing physical activity in the pediatric population: A systematic review. Int J Pediatr Obes. 2009;4(1):2–27. doi: 10.1080/17477160802315010. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]