Weekday and weekend behaviors of WHO-24-hour movement guidelines in USA low-income, African American children

Background: The World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that children under the age of 5 should have minimal daily screen time and sedentary activities while encouraging regular physical activity and sufficient sleep. However, factors like increased technology use and other environmental influences might make it challenging for young children to meet these recommendations. Considering health disparities, it is essential to investigate these behaviors among children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds or ethnic minority groups.

Purpose: This study investigates weekday and weekend adherence to the WHO-24-hour movement guidelines in primarily African American children with household incomes at or below the US federal poverty line.

Methods: Participants (n=48) were drawn from the baseline assessment of Cohort 1 in the Promoting Activities and Trajectories of Health study. We assessed 24-hour movement behavior using two methods: a) measuring children’s moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using wrist-worn accelerometers on weekdays and weekends and b) gathering sleep duration and screen time usage data from parental questionnaires.

Results: Regarding the WHO-24-hour guidelines, children exhibited lower adherence rates to MVPA and sleep guidelines during the weekdays compared to weekends (49%vs71% for MVPA and 58%vs90% for sleep, respectively, p<0.05. Adherence rates to screen time guidelines remained similar during weekdays and weekends (36%vs33%). Adherence to multiple components of the WHO-24-hour movement guidelines was lower during weekdays (ranging from 10%-23%) compared to weekends (ranging from 27%-93%, p<0.05). Only one child (3%) met all three guidelines during weekdays, while seven children (26%) met all three guidelines on weekends.

Conclusions: Preliminary US data suggests weekday-to-weekend variability in adherence to the WHO-24-hour movement guidelines among low-income African American children. Specifically, there is a higher adherence rate on weekends versus weekdays.

Practical implications: More educational programs are needed to inform parents of the WHO-24-hour movement guidelines and how they shape their child’s health and development.

Funding: NIH R01HL132979