Associations between meeting the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines and physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and overall development in early childhood

Abstract

Background The importance of all movement behaviours (i.e., sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity) for children's health has led to the creation of national and international 24-h movement behaviour guidelines for children. Few studies have examined the associations between guideline adherence and a broad array of health indicators in early childhood, and no study has done so with composite development scores for overall development. The objective of the present study was to examine associations for 24-h movement guideline adherence with physical, cognitive, social-emotional, and overall development indicators in a sample of 3–5-year-olds. Methods Children (n = 95) were recruited for this cross-sectional study in Edmonton, Canada. Sleep, light-intensity physical activity, and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity were measured with ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometers. Screen time was measured via parental-report. Guideline recommendation adherence was categorized using the Canadian 24-h Movement Guidelines. Composite z-scores were created for physical (i.e., adiposity, growth, motor skills), cognitive (i.e., vocabulary, executive functions), social-emotional (i.e., self-regulation, social-emotional behaviours), and overall development. Linear regression models were conducted to examine associations between meeting different recommendation combinations (e.g., physical activity alone, combination of physical activity and sleep), and number of recommendations met (e.g., meeting only one of any of the recommendations) with each composite development outcome variable adjusted for relevant covariates. Results Most children were 3–4 years old (77%) and males (69%). The physical activity guideline recommendation was the most frequently met single recommendation (94%), while the physical activity and sleep recommendations (80%) were the most frequently met combination of two recommendations. Further, 43% of children met all three recommendations. Meeting the sleep recommendation was positively associated with overall development (B: 0.29; 95% CI: 0.08–0.50), while meeting both the sleep and physical activity recommendations was positively associated with overall (B: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.10–0.46) and physical (B: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.03–0.51) development. Conclusions Meeting sleep recommendations alone, as well as the combination of sleep and physical activity recommendations were associated with better physical and overall development in this sample. Future research should continue to examine a broad array of development outcomes using longitudinal study designs across early childhood.

An updated systematic review of correlates of children's physical activity and sedentary time in early childhood education services

“…Optimal levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviour are critical for young children's health and development (e.g., improved blood pressure, cholesterol and bone density, motor and cognitive development and psychosocial health) (Carson et al, 2017; Kuzik et al, 2022). These behaviours are important to be established as early as possible, starting from early childhood (birth to 5 years) (Jones et al, 2013; World Health Organization [WHO], 2019).…”

The effect of experiential learning interventions on physical activity outcomes in children: A systematic review

“…Physical activity is an important component of a healthy lifestyle for children that impacts lifelong health [1]. Regular physical activity promotes healthy weight among children [2] and reduces the risk of adverse health outcomes including chronic diseases [3][4][5]. In recognition of the health benefits of regular physical activity for children, many countries have established national physical activity guidelines for early childhood [6][7][8] and for school-aged children and adolescents [8][9][10].…”

A journal dedicated to studying the combined effects of activity, sedentary and sleep behaviours

“…I'm also pleased that some of the first research papers JASSB will publish focus on 24-h movement behaviours. For example, Kuzik et al [3] investigated how adherence to 24-h movement guidelines is associated with physical, cognitive and social development indicators in 3-to-5-year old's and found that meeting both sleep and physical activity recommendations was positively associated with physical and overall development. Another example by Tyler et al [15] investigated associations between 24-h activity compositions and motor competence in children and adolescents and found that reallocations of low intensity physical activity or sleep to moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were associated with the largest increases in motor competence.…”