Abstract
Aim. To conduct an exploratory study of time-use patterns in Australian 5-year-old children, and to pilot the novel Children's Light Time-Use Diary as a potential tool for investigating relationships between children's time-use and weight status. Methods. Subjects for the present cross-sectional study were drawn from an established longitudinal cohort and included eighty-four 5-year-old Australian children (36 males) originally recruited as infants in three local government areas of Melbourne. Children were weighed and measured, and body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) calculated. Over three to four complete 24-hour periods, parents completed the Children's Light Time-Use Diary to record their child's activities in 15-minute blocks and details about the context in which the activities took place, selecting from a list of predetermined options. Results. The children studied were largely sedentary, with television viewing the most time-consuming activity outside sleep. Only 49% of children spent any time walking for transport or pleasure. Children spent a median of 71% of their time in activities that were likely to be physically active when outdoors, compared with 3% when indoors, but averaged only 110 minutes/day outdoors (excluding passive transport). The 11 overweight/obese children watched significantly more television than non-overweight children. Conclusion. The Children's Light Time-Use Diary appears to be a practical and informative tool, which may complement accelerometry as a tool relevant to future studies of the determinants of child overweight/obesity. Further validation studies and larger research trials seem warranted.
Acknowledgements
The PEAS Kids Growth Study was funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. We thank the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, and the Australian Government for their permission to use and modify the Children's Light Time Use Diary for this study. Our thanks also to Associate Professor Michael Bittman and Dr Kimberly Fisher for their technical advice on time-use analysis; research assistants Libby Smith and Susie Gallagher; and all parents, children and Maternal and Child Health nurses who have participated in PEAS.