Relationship between Sedentary Time, Physical Activity, and Health-Related Quality of Life in Spanish Children

Abstract

Higher sedentary time and lower physical activity (PA) are associated with a poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in children. The aims of this study were: (1) to analyze the sedentary time, objectively measured PA levels (light, moderate, vigorous, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)), and HRQoL dimensions (physical well-being, emotional well-being, self-esteem, family, friends, school, and total score) in children; and (2) to examine the association between sedentary time, PA levels, and HRQoL in children separately by sex. A total of 459 children (8.4 ± 0.4 years old, 50.54% males) from 15 schools in Granada (Spain) participated in the study. A tri-axial accelerometer was used to measure PA levels in the children for 7 consecutive days. The Revidierter KINDer Lebensqualitätsfragebogen (KINDL-R) questionnaire was used to determine the children’s HRQoL dimensions. The results showed that males presented more minutes engaged in MVPA than females. Both sedentary time and PA levels were associated with self-esteem and total score (all p < 0.05). In males, moderate and vigorous PA levels were associated with higher HRQoL, whereas light PA was associated with higher HRQoL in females. Future studies should take into account the use of activities with difference intensities in order to increase HRQoL in males and females.

The Role of Physical Activity in the Relationship between Satisfaction with Life and Health-Related Quality of Life in School-Age Adolescents

“…Regarding physical activity intensity, three studies [ 32 , 33 ] showed that the strongest associations between satisfaction with life and physical activity were found in those adolescents who participated in vigorous physical activity. However, as previously found for the HRQoL [ 26 ], boys and girls differently responded to physical activity. In this regard, for boys, vigorous physical activity can be regarded as the predictor of better satisfaction with life, while, for girls, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity might be considered as a risk factor for lower life satisfaction [ 34 ].…”

“…In the same vein, a study that explore the commitment of physical activity recommendations found that meeting combinations of screen time with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were related to higher HRQoL [ 25 ]. However, a previous study found that light intensity physical activity was associated with higher HRQoL in females whereas, in males, moderate and vigorous PA levels were associated with higher HRQoL values [ 26 ].…”

Relevant Factors in Adolescent Well-Being: Family and Parental Relationships

“…The factors that determine HRQoL in adolescents have been studied in numerous studies in recent years, most of them finding significant relationships with lifestyle habits: for example, quality of life in adolescence has been associated with physical activity and sedentary lifestyle [ 1 , 4 , 9 , 10 , 11 ] or eating habits [ 12 ]. Wu et al, for example, conducted a systematic review of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on the subject and found evidence that a higher level of physical activity and less time spent in sedentary behavior are associated with higher HRQoL among the general population of children and adolescents [ 13 ].…”

Association of daily and time-segmented physical activity and sedentary behaviour with mental health of school children and adolescents from rural Northeastern Ontario, Canada

“…Overall, high levels of MVPA were observed in the present study. Although children are normally depicted with low PA levels in large, survey-based studies ( Hallal et al, 2012 ; Aubert et al, 2018 ; Guthold et al, 2020 ), research with accelerometry has also observed MVPA levels above 60 min per day among pediatric populations ( Camiletti-Moirón et al, 2020 ; Ávila-García et al, 2021 , Llorente-Cantarero et al, 2021 ; Padmapriya et al, 2021 ), which reflect the average recommended engagement in MVPA for children and adolescents according to the most recent World Health Organization guidelines and several international PA guidelines ( Chaput et al, 2020 ; Parrish et al, 2020 ). We believe this to be a positive finding, considering the many health benefits that result from maintaining high levels of PA ( Poitras et al, 2016 ; Chaput et al, 2020 ).…”