Study probes health impact of children’s lifestyles

A LANDMARK study of Australian children has teased apart the combination of daily activities needed for a healthy day, and long-term healthy life.

Arleigh plays video games while mate Luke tries to entice him to get active. Picture: Alex Coppel

A LANDMARK study of Australian children has teased apart the combination of daily activities needed to set them on the path to a healthy life.

PARENTS USING SCREENS TO DISTRACT TODDLERS FACE LONG-TERM PROBLEMS

NEW STUDY SHOWS SNORING CHILDREN FACE HIGHER MEDICAL RISK

The findings by Murdoch Childrens Research Institute shows children who spend the most time on school activities, are moderately active and have low screen time are the most physically and psychologically healthy.

Those with low exercise levels and moderate amounts of screen time had the ­poorest self-reported health.

The findings suggest that promoting healthy “time-use patterns”, rather than individual activities, could improve short and long-term health.

The study showed children with low exercise levels and moderate amounts of screen time had the ­poorest self-reported health.

MCRI researcher Monica Wong said it was known that frequent physical activity, less screen time and adequate sleep were associated with improved health in isolation, but there had been limited ­research into how overall time use related to improved quality of life.

“We want to ­target the group of children at risk of having the lowest quality of life, and potentially the highest disease burden in the ­future,” Dr Wong said.

“If we can prevent that from happening while they’re young and healthy, we can potentially prevent cardiovascular, respiratory and mental health diseases in adulthood."

The 1455 children, aged 11 to 12 years, filled out digital diaries on their use of time in five-minute blocks across two 24-hour periods plus three questionnaires about their health-related quality of life.

Arleigh plays video games while mate Luke tries to entice him to get active. Picture: Alex Coppel

MCRI researchers identified four distinct groups — the Potterers, Studious ­Actives, Techno Actives and Stay Home Screenies.

The Studious Actives group — who spent the most time on school, study and chores, and the least time in front of screens — scored the highest on the health tests. The least active group was the Potterers — some often played video games for eight hours straight and could not recall if they had eaten or gone to the toilet in that time.

The study is published today in The American Academy of Pediatrics journal.

Researchers plan to follow these children to see if the quality-of-life gap widens as they make more ­independent lifestyle choices.

[e-mail]