Australian Health Promotion Association

Mong-Lin Yu, Jenny M. Ziviani and Michele Haynes

Introduction: Early childhood, when children are between three and five years of age, has been identified as an important time for the establishment of behavioural patterns for physical activity.1,2 The benefits of physical activity for young children’s health and wellbeing are widely acknowledged, and include maintenance of healthy body weight; reduced risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, anxiety and depression; enhancement of bone growth; and improvement of emotional, social and cognitive development.3-6 These health promoting effects have largely been attributed to physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity once children reach the school age of five and beyond.7

In many countries like the US and Australia, a minimum level of participation in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) is recommended for children and adolescents by public health sectors in order to promote health and wellbeing. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services7 has released Physical Activity Guidelines for children over the age of six years which recommend they do at least 60 minutes of MVPA a day. Similar guidelines apply in Australia for children between five and 18 years.8,9 However, it is noteworthy that guidelines for three to five year old children suggest that physical activity take the form of at least three hours of general physical activity every day10 Furthermore, these guidelines indicate that in this age group children can accumulate their three hours throughout the day, and their physical activity includes both light physical activity (e.g., standing up and moving around) and MVPA, as children have greater energy expenditure during both rest and exercise than adults.10,11 Australian research has found that among young children who attended early-childhood centres within Wollongong, New South Wales, and Brisbane, Queensland, approximately 50% and 20%, respectively, failed to participate in physical activity for at least 60 minutes on a weekday
and weekend day.1 This implies that young Australian children live a relatively inactive lifestyle, which may expose them to heightened risk for developing associated physical and mental health problems in later years. Low levels of participation in physical activity in childhood can foreshadow similar patterns in adult life, potentially compromising life-long health.12,13 As a result, it is important to explore factors facilitating participation in physical activity, especially if these can be identified in early childhood.

Over the past three decades, research has examined factors associated with preschool children’s participation in physical activity and findings can be categorised into five domains: 1) demographic and biological (e.g. gender, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, weight, child health); 2) psychological, cognitive, and emotional (e.g. personality and intelligence); 3) behavioural attributes and skills (e.g. TV viewing, sedentary time, and motor skills); 4) social and cultural (e.g. parental supports, encouragement, and physical participation); and 5) environmental (e.g. availability of play space, outdoor time, and quality of and facilities available in child care/preschools).6,14-20

In addition to these factors, young children’s physical activity participation can be further understood through an examination of the way in which their time is allocated on a daily basis. To date, however, temporal influences on young children’s physical activity have mainly focused on time spent outdoors.15,21,22 Little attention has been directed to the contribution of time spent in sleep, in the company of peers/family and the nature of activities in which they participate. This is particularly relevant as the way in which young children spend their time can be influenced by changing family patterns (i.e. increasing number of single parent ouseholds and employed mothers) and a growing focus on educational and skill development activities (e.g. music classes) at the expense of unstructured play time.23 This trend has the potential to expose young children to various social contexts other than the family (e.g. child care centres and preschools), and their time is more likely to involve structured activities, which are often guided by adults, provide social connections with adults and peers, and emphasise building skills and social competence.24 While structured activities have been found to be beneficial for children during middle childhood and beyond, this benefit may not necessarily apply to children in their
preschool years.4,25 This is because participation in structured activity may compete with the time otherwise available for active free play, which is the major means through which young children accrue physical activity and experience social connection with peers with or without the involvement of adults.4,10 For these reasons, the aim of  the current study was to determine if young children’s time spent in sleep, structured activities, and the various social contexts to which they are exposed was associated with their level of participation in physical activity.

Issue addressed: Physical inactivity is a growing health concern for children, with the potential to undermine their health and wellbeing. While a range of factors have been associated with physical inactivity, the contribution of time spent in sleep, structured activities and children’s social contexts has received limited attention.
Methods: This cross-sectional study employed data from Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine the association between participation in physical activity and time spent in sleep, structured activity, and social contexts of 4-5 year old children.
Results: Young children who were more physically active were found to participate less in structured activities on weekdays (β=-0.25, SE=0.05); spend more time with peers under adult supervision on weekends (β=0.36, SE=0.15); and have parents who themselves reported enjoying physical activity (β=-0.18, SE=0.06). Boys (β=-0.13, SE=0.05) and young children who spoke only English at home (β=-0.37, SE=0.11) were also found to be more physically active. Overall, young children participated in more physical activity on weekend days than weekdays (β=0.57, SE=0.04).
Conclusions: Young children who are highly scheduled in structured activities on weekdays and those with limited adult involvement, especially on weekends, tend to be less physically active. Interventions that promote physical activity in young children therefore need to be family focused and encourage the engagement of parents.
So what? Opportunities for young children to engage in more free play in family contexts may be more beneficial for enhancing physical activity than structured activities at this age. Family-centred strategies that embed physical activity into children’s daily routines are reinforced by findings from this study.

Health Promotion Journal of Australia 2011; 22: 203-9