Association between meeting the 24‐h movement guidelines and psychosocial health in children: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

ObjectiveEmerging evidence suggests that meeting the 24‐h movement guidelines is associated with optimal mental health. However, there remains some uncertainty regarding this association in children. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the association between meeting the 24‐h movement guidelines and psychosocial health in children.MethodsA cross‐sectional study design was employed to investigate 2005 children aged 9–12 years from four districts of Shanghai, China. The 24‐h movement behaviours were assessed using selected items from the Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC) survey questionnaire. Children's self‐rated psychosocial health was evaluated using the Strengths or Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Generalised Linear Models with the ordinal logistic module were employed to analyse the association between meeting the 24‐h movement guidelines and psychosocial health.ResultsThe overall prevalence of meeting all three 24‐h movement recommendations was 10.2%. Among children, 7.9% of them exhibited abnormal total difficulties, with a notable difference between sex (boys: 11.2%, girls: 7.0%, p = 0.001). Meeting all three 24‐h movement behaviour recommendations was associated with reduced total difficulties, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity and peer problems. Furthermore, a dose–response association was observed, indicating that meeting a greater number of 24‐h movement behaviour recommendations was associated with enhanced psychosocial health, particularly in boys.ConclusionThe findings of this study highlight the positive association between meeting the 24‐h movement guidelines and psychosocial health in children. Notably, meeting more of these recommendations was associated with a lower likelihood of experiencing psychosocial problems, with greater benefits observed in boys compared with girls.