Does a higher incidence of break times in primary schools result in children being more physically active?

BACKGROUND: Regular physical activity (PA) has multiple benefits to health; however, the majority of schoolchildren do not reach PA guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) daily. During the school day, break times are often the only opportunity for children to be physically active. This study investigated PA levels during school breaks in German primary school children. METHODS: PA of 294 children (7.1 ± 0.7 years; 48% boys) was assessed. On the basis of timetables, individual activity times and intensities for daily breaks were determined. Children's weight status was determined on site. RESULTS: Breaks lasted 30.7 (± 13.8) minutes; length varied significantly between 1 and 2 breaks (21.7 ± 4.1 versus 36.2 ± 14.8 minutes; p ≤ .01). Children spent 25.3% of their breaks in MVPA, boys being significantly more active (30.8% versus 20.4%; p ≤ .01). Time spent in MVPA differed significantly between normal weight and overweight/obese children (26.1% versus 18.4%; p ≤ .05). Children having 2 breaks engaged in significantly more MVPA than those with only 1 (7.4 ± 6.1 versus 5.6 ± 4.7 minutes; p ≤ .02). CONCLUSIONS: Children spent 25% of their break in MVPA; having 2 breaks increased time in MVPA significantly, although this is also influenced by weight status. Consequently, more activity breaks should be scheduled during school hours.

Parental characteristics have a larger effect on children's health behaviour than their body weight.

OBJECTIVE: Parents take an important role in a child's development, but there is currently limited information on parental correlates with children's health behaviour. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to examine whether parental characteristics, such as body weight, TV consumption and sport participation, affect children's body weight and health behaviour. METHODS: To examine the effects of parental characteristics on children's body weight and health behaviour, baseline data of 1,118 elementary school children (7.6 ± 0.4 years) participating in a school-based intervention in southwest Germany was used. Children's height and weight were measured and parent as well as child behaviour was assessed via questionnaire. RESULTS: BMI percentiles of children were positively associated with parental BMI (r = 0.2, p <0.01). Further, high parental TV time increased the odds for high TV time in children (OR mother= 2.2, OR father = 2.3) and parental club sport participation increased the odds for club sport participation in children (OR mother = 1.9, OR father = 1.7). The relationship between parental and child behaviour was stronger than the relationship between parental BMI and BMI percentiles of the child. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that parental behaviour and role modeling provide an important contribution to childrens' health behaviour, especially at younger ages.

Intervention effects of a school-based health promotion programme on obesity related behavioural outcomes.

Studies have shown preventive effects of an active lifestyle during childhood on later life; therefore, health promotion has to start early. The programme "Join the Healthy Boat" promotes a healthy lifestyle in primary school children. In order to evaluate it, children's behaviours in respect of increased physical activity (PA), a decrease in screen media use (SMU), more regular breakfast, and a reduction of the consumption of soft drinks (SDC) were investigated. 1943 children (7.1 ± 0.6 years) participated in the cluster-randomised study and were assessed at baseline and 1736 of them at follow-up. Teachers delivered lessons, which included behavioural contracting and budgeting of SMU and SDC. Daily SMU, PA behaviours, SDC, and breakfast patterns were assessed via parental questionnaire. After one-year intervention, significant effects were found in the intervention group for SMU of girls, children without migration background, and children with parents having a low education level. In the control group, second grade children skipped breakfast significantly more often. Tendencies but no significant differences were found for PA and SDC. This intervention seems to affect groups, which are usually hard to reach, such as children of parents with low education levels, which shows that active parental involvement is vital for successful interventions.

Relationship of parental health-related behaviours and physical fitness in girls and boys.

AIM: Physical activity (PA) and physical fitness (PF) are known to be closely connected. Various environmental and biological constraints have been shown to influence children's PA with parents being among strong determinants of their children's PA behaviour. However, little is known about parental influence on PF in children. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the influence of parental health-related behaviours and attitudes on PF in boys and girls. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Baseline data of 1,875 primary school children (7.1 ± 0.6 years; 50 % male) were included in the analyses. Lateral jumping performance was used as a proxy for whole-body coordination and the 6-min run for cardiovascular fitness. Parental health-related behaviours, attitudes and sociodemographic variables were assessed via questionnaire. Regression analyses, adjusting for age and BMI, were performed separately for boys and girls. RESULTS: The final models of the regression analyses showed that children's age and BMI are significantly related to PF. Mothers' self-efficacy to encourage their children to be active is significantly associated with boys' coordination and cardiovascular fitness and girls' coordination. Mothers' PA affects PF in boys, not in girls. Maternal smoking has a significantly negative effect on both boys' and girls' cardiovascular fitness. CONCLUSION: This study shows that parental health-related behaviours and self-efficacy to encourage their children to be active affect children's PF. Influencing factors, however, differ in girls and boys, and mothers seem especially influential.

Parental Activity as Influence on Children`s BMI Percentiles and Physical Activity.

Parents play a crucial role in the development of their children's lifestyle and health behaviour. This study aims to examine associations between parental physical activity (PA) and children's BMI percentiles (BMIPCT), moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) as well as participation in organised sports. Height and body weight was measured in 1615 in German children (7.1 ± 0.6 years, 50.3% male) and converted to BMIPCT. Parental BMI was calculated based on self-reported height and body weight. Children's MVPA and sports participation as well as parental PA were assessed via parental questionnaire. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), controlling for age and family income was used to examine the association between parental and children's PA levels as well as BMIPCT. 39.7% of the parents classified themselves as physically active and 8.3% of children were classified as overweight or obese. Lower BMIPCT were observed with both parents being physically active (44.5 ± 26.3 vs. 50.2 ± 26.9 and 52.0 ± 28.4, respectively). There was no association between parental and children's PA levels but children with at least one active parent displayed a higher participation in organised sports (102.0 ± 96.6 and 117.7 ± 123.6 vs. 73.7 ± 100.0, respectively). Children of active parents were less likely to be overweight and obese. The lack of association between subjectively assessed parental PA and child MVPA suggests that parental support for PA in children is more important than parents being a role model. More active parents, however, may be more likely to facilitate participation in organised sports. These results underline the importance of the inclusion of parents in health promotion and obesity prevention programmes in children. Key pointsA higher prevalence of overweight or obese children was found with inactive parents.Children's BMI percentiles were lower if both parents were physically active compared to children whose parents were both inactive or only had one physically active parent.Parental activity had no influence on daily time spent at MVPA and time spent in non-organised sports.There was a significant association between parental physical activity and the number of minutes per week boys and girls participated in organised sports.On average, children who had at least one physically active parent spent significantly more time participating in organised sports than children with inactive parents.

Why do mothers encourage their children to control their weight? A cross-sectional study of possible contributing factors.

BACKGROUND: Mothers encouraging their children to control their weight is problematic as it is associated with children's body dissatisfaction and weight concerns as well as further weight gain. The aim of this study was to identify factors in children and mothers associated with mothers encouraging their children to control their weight and possible gender differences therein. METHODS: Cross-sectional questionnaire data was available from 1658 mothers of primary school children (mean age 7.1 ±0.6 years, 50.4% boys) participating in the Baden-Württemberg Study. Children's body weight and height were measured in a standardised manner. Logistic regressions were computed separately for boys and girls, adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) from the final model are reported. RESULTS: 29% of children were encouraged by their mothers, girls (32.4%) significantly more often than boys (25.6%). Child BMI (girls OR 1.77, CI 1.57 to 1.99; boys OR 1.88, CI 1.66 to 2.13), and child migration background (girls OR 2.14, CI 1.45 to 3.16; boys OR 1.60, CI 1.07 to 2.37) were significantly associated with encouragement by mothers. For girls, maternal body dissatisfaction (OR 1.59, CI 1.10 to 2.30) and maternal perception of a low influence on health (OR 0.51, CI 0.29 to 0.89) were also significantly associated with maternal encouragement. For boys, this was true of mothers self-efficacy to influence their children's physical activity (OR 0.58, CI 0.40 to 0.85). CONCLUSION: Different factors are associated with mothers encouraging boys and girls to control their weight. Identifying correlates and underlying processes of maternal encouragement can inform preventive measures targeting weight and eating related problems in children.