Background
Methods
Design
Setting and sample
Quantitative data
Physical activity
Demographic questionnaire
Height and weight
Data analysis
Qualitative data
Interviews
Data analysis
Results
Quantitative results
Demographics | Child n = 27 | Parent n = 25 |
---|---|---|
Weight in Kg (mean) | 39.7 | 83.1 |
Age in years (mean) | 9.26 | 37 |
Gender (n) | ||
Male | 13 | 1 |
Female | 14 | 24 |
BMI | ||
BMI Percentile | 74.63 | N/A |
BMI | N/A | 32.73 |
Birth Place (n) | ||
Mexico | 23 | |
USA | 2 | |
Household Income (n) | ||
Less than 14,999 | N/A | 5 |
15,000 to 34,999 | N/A | 14 |
35,000 to 50, 000 | N/A | 6 |
Language Spoken | ||
Only Spanish | N/A | 11 |
Spanish better than English | N/A | 9 |
Both Spanish and English equally well | N/A | 3 |
English better than Spanish | N/A | 1 |
Only English | N/A | 1 |
Before School (6-8 am) | During School (8 am-3 pm) | After School (3-6 pm) | Evening (6-10 pm) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean Minutes per hour | SD | Mean Minutes per hour | SD | Mean Minutes per hour | SD | Mean Minutes per hour | SD | |
Moderate Activity | 7.60 | 3.44 | 10.89 | 2.77 | 13.91 | 3.78 | 11.61 | 3.53 |
Light Activity | 5.05 | 2.31 | 8.82 | 2.51 | 17.79 | 2.17 | 6.82 | 1.99 |
Sedentary | 20.26 | 9.68 | 38.50 | 5.32 | 33.27 | 5.84 | 28.82 | 6.63 |
Qualitative results
Physical activity and families
“Well, thinking that it it’s summer, we try to be more outside of the house, running, playing, bicycles. And in the winter, we almost always do a little bit inside of the house. And we try to like to do games like the videogames that now come with dancing or jumping. Not the kind where you just push a button.”
Barriers and challenges
“More time. Because thinking about the work schedule, the school schedule, preparing for the next day. It’s too short when you think that one has to prepare everything all the time for the next day. Even though we take some time to have any activity outside but always, I think that sometimes time is too short”.
Perceptions and beliefs
[Children being active is important] “first to prevent childhood obesity, second when child exercises, he de-stresses, gets tired, learns and goes to sleep well...they have lots of energy, it is good for them, for the development of their muscles to exercise their bodies”.
Technology and impact on children’s physical activity
Some parents had rules regarding screen time where homework and chores needed to be completed before screen time or limiting number of hours of screen time per day. Many did not have specific rules regarding screen time. A few parents reported that enforcing screen time caused conflict. As one parent succinctly says, “well the kids get mad when I want them to turn off the television.” And another describes how conflict starts with their children, “the kids’ tantrums, the anger, because, ‘why? ‘or ‘give me more time’ or ‘let me watch longer’.” A majority reported watching TV together as a family on the evening and/or weekends. Half of the parents reported their child had a TV in the bedroom.Television eats their imagination, they stop playing, they stop doing anything to be in front of TV, they stop reading a good book to watch television, or ride the bike to watch television.
Merged quantitative and qualitative results
Summary of Activity Patterns | Summary of Qualitative Findings | Interpretation |
---|---|---|
PA and families: Parents | ||
• Parents were mostly sedentary • No difference between weekday / weekends activity levels | • Reported being mostly inactive outside of work and household duties • Desired doing PA together as a family by visiting parks on weekends Barriers & Challenges • Lack of time • Work and family responsibilities • Lack of opportunities Perceptions & Beliefs • Identified PA as important for health and wellbeing | • Identified PA as important, yet reported significant barriers to being active on weekdays. • Wanted to be active on the weekends with their families, but minimal activity differences reported between weekends and weekdays. |
PA and families: Children | ||
• Children were mostly sedentary. • Spent most time /hour in moderate activity during afterschool. Hours; 3 – 6 pm • Spent most time /hour in sedentary time during school hours. • No significant differences in PA levels between weekdays and weekends. | • Active with parents when biking, sports, walking and swimming. • Active in informal play during afterschool hours. Barriers and challenges • Lack of other children to be active with. • Health issues such as asthma. • Busy schedules. • Costs of organized team sports and transportation. Perceptions & Beliefs • Parents identified physical activity as important to their children’s health. Impact of technology/ excess screen-time: • Minimal parental limit-setting. • Screen-time as reward • Television in bedrooms • Meals with television | • Parents acknowledged barriers to their children being active despite their support of their children’s PA engagement. • Children engaged in informal play rather than organized team sports afterschool. • Children were on screens an average of 4–6 h per day. |