Compliance with the Australian national physical activity guidelines for children: relationship to overweight status.

Full Abstract

Childhood obesity incidence has increased substantially and it has been argued that decreasing physical activity levels, coinciding with an increase in sedentary behaviours, are responsible. Australian guidelines were published in 2004, recommending that children participate in a minimum of 60 min of physical activity daily and spend no more than 2h a day using electronic media for entertainment. We aimed to compare compliance with these guidelines amongst children of differing weight status. The Childhood Injury Prevention Study (CHIPS) collected data from a randomly selected sample of Brisbane primary and preschool children aged 5-12 years. The following data were available for 518 participants:
age, gender, measured height and weight and estimated time per week from a parent-completed 7 days diary in physical activity out of school and sedentary leisure activities including television viewing and computer use. Using age standardised body mass index estimates, approximately 20% of the cohort were overweight. Non-compliance with guidelines was 14.7% for out of school physical activity participation, and 30.9% for excess electronic media entertainment use. There was a 63% increase in the odds of overweight status amongst children who were non-compliant with the electronic entertainment recommendations than those who were compliant (adjusted odds ratio=1.63; 95% CI=1.05-2.54). Female gender and school level socioeconomic category were also independently associated with overweight status. Non-compliance with the minimal physical activity guideline increased the odds of being overweight by 28%, however this difference was not statistically significant. One in seven children from the Greater Brisbane area are at risk for being insufficiently active whilst a third overuse electronic media. Given that overuse of electronic entertainment was positively associated with childhood obesity, these children should be the target of public health campaigns to promote alternative leisure time activities.

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Author information

Author/s: Spinks, Anneliese B (AB); Macpherson, Alison K (AK); Bain, Chris (C); McClure, Roderick J (RJ);

Affiliation: University of Queensland, School of Population Health, Herston Road, Herston, Qld, Australia. a.spinks(-atsign-)griffith.edu.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of science and medicine in sport / Sports Medicine Australia (J Sci Med Sport), published in Australia. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Jun; vol 10 (issue 3) : pp 156-63

Dates: Created 2007/04/20; Completed 2007/10/15; Revised 2007/11/15;

PMID: 16890017, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Child
Child Behavior - physiology; psychology
Child Welfare
Child, Preschool
Cross-Sectional Studies
Exercise - physiology
Female
Guidelines as Topic
Humans

Interviews as Topic
Logistic Models
Male
Mass Media - utilization
Motor Activity - physiology
Overweight - physiology
Patient Compliance - statistics & numerical data
Queensland
Socioeconomic Factors

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