Document Type
Journal Article
Department/Unit
Department of Physical Education
Language
English
Abstract
Background Understanding patterns of time use of children is helpful in developing target-tailored intervention. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clustering of sedentary behaviours and physical activity in Chinese children and to examine the associations between sociodemographic factors and the time use clusters. Methods Cluster analysis was conducted among 1013 Chinese children aged 9–13 years (49.5% boys) recruited in a cross-sectional survey study. Physical activity and sedentary behaviours were assessed using a validated questionnaire. Differences in sociodemographic variables were compared across the clusters. Results Five clusters were identified for boys and girls, respectively. For boys, the five clusters were labelled ‘Actives’ (9.1%), ‘Inactives’ (59.4%), ‘Sedentary homeworkers’ (4.7%), ‘Sedentary TV viewers’ (16.6%) and ‘Sedentary games players’ (10.2%). For girls, they were labelled ‘Actives’ (11.9%), ‘Uninvolved inactives’ (39.6%), ‘Sedentary homeworkers’ (11.3%), ‘Sedentary TV viewers’ (8.5%) and ‘Sedentary Games players’ (28.8%). Only parental education was found to differ across the five clusters in boys. Conclusions The findings demonstrated that sedentariness in youth is multidimensional, and it could not be accurately represented by singular behaviour. There is a potential need when designing specific interventions to reduce a group of sedentary behaviours to tailor these interventions for specific clusters.
Keywords
children, physical activity, socioeconomics factors
Publication Date
2016
Source Publication Title
Journal of Public Health
Volume
38
Issue
2
Start Page
e106
End Page
e113
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
The version of record Huang, Yajun Wendy, and Stephen H. Wong. "Time use clusters in children and their associations with sociodemographic factors." Journal of Public Health 38.2 (2016): e106-e113. is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdv088
DOI
10.1093/pubmed/fdv088
Link to Publisher's Edition
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pubmed/fdv088
ISSN (print)
17413842
ISSN (electronic)
17413850
ISSN (electronic)
17413850
Recommended Citation
Huang, Yajun Wendy, and Stephen H. Wong. "Time use clusters in children and their associations with sociodemographic factors." Journal of Public Health 38.2 (2016): e106-e113.