Using a 24 h Activity Recall (STAR-24) to Describe Activity in Adolescent Boys in New Zealand: Comparisons between a Sample Collected before, and a Sample Collected during the COVID-19 Lockdown

Abstract

Background: Tools that assess all three components of 24 h movement guidelines (sleep, physical activity, and screen use) are scarce. Our objective was to use a newly developed Screen Time and Activity Recall (STAR-24) to demonstrate how this tool could be used to illustrate differences in time-use across the day between two independent samples of male adolescents collected before and during the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: Adolescent boys aged 15–18 years (n = 109) each completed the STAR-24 twice, n = 74 before lockdown and n = 35 during lockdown. Results: During lockdown more than 50% of the sample reported gaming between 10 am and 12 noon, transport was not reported as an activity, and activities of daily living spiked at mealtimes. Gaming and screen time were more prevalent in weekends than weekdays, with the highest prevalence of weekday screen use (before lockdown) occurring between 8 and 9 pm. Differences in estimates of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity prior to and during lockdown (mean difference (95% CI); 21 (−9 to 51) min) and sleep (0.5 (−0.2 to 1.2) h) were small. Total and recreational screen time were higher during lockdown (2 h (0.7 to 3.3 h) and 48 min (−36 to 132 min), respectively). Conclusions: The STAR-24 holds promise as a single tool that assesses compliance with 24 h movement guidelines. This tool also allows clear illustration of how adolescent boys are using their time (instead of only providing summary measures), providing richer data to inform public health initiatives.

Impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic on Leisure Screen Time and Eating Habits of Japanese High School Students: A Comparison between before and during the Pandemic

“…The leisure screen time was longer on weekends than on weekdays. This finding is consistent with that reported by Peddie et al in New Zealand [21]. Long screen time has been reported to be associated with sleep disturbance [22], loneliness, and mental health [23,24] and is presumed to be one of the points to watch out for during the pandemic.…”

Impacts caused by the use of screens during the COVID-19 pandemic in children and adolescents: an integrative review

“…The studies analyzed revealed the association between high use of screens and higher risks of myopia, as well as other eye problems in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. 13 - 15 , 19 , 24 , 30 , 33 …”

“…The studies analyzed revealed the association between high use of screens and higher risks of myopia, as well as other eye problems in children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic. [13][14][15]19,24,30,33 Chinese researchers carried out a large-scale survey, finding that the use of screens in this period increased due to school closures, as well as myopia was more prevalent among respondents who were in high school and fundamentally, screen time Table 1. Level of evidence classification.…”

Development of a 24-hour movement behaviors questionnaire (24HMBQ) for Chinese college students: validity and reliability testing

“…Meanwhile, the wearable device-based measurements cannot capture the information on the domains of PA and types of SB. Recently, activity log-based methods are also used in some studies to capture the details of PA, SB, and sleep over the 24-hour cycle, such as the Act24 (Activities Completed over Time in 24 h) [ 32 ] and STAR24 (Screen Time and Activity Recall) [ 33 ]. However, this method is time-consuming and subject to recall bias, and it is not feasible to implement in large-scale epidemiological studies.…”