Wachira Lucy-Joy, Swindell Nils, Kanerva Noora, Munuhe Muhoro, Vuorimaa Timo, Laiho Tiina, Ochola Sophie, Erkkola Maijaliisa, Owino George, Stratton Gareth, Fogelholm Mikael, Onywera Vincent
Department of Physical Education, Exercise and Sport Science, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Applied Sport Technology, Exercise and Medicine Research Centre, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Swansea University, UK.
Sports Med Health Sci. 2025 Jan 31;7(4):263-271. doi: 10.1016/j.smhs.2025.01.008. eCollection 2025 Jul.
The decreasing prevalence of physical activity (PA) among urban children in Sub-Saharan Africa is a growing public health concern. More emphasis should focus on examining the influence of parental PA behaviour on the children's PA patterns. We explored associations of 24 hour (h) accelerometer-measured movement behaviours of guardian-child pairs in Nairobi City County, Kenya.
This cross-sectional study assessed 80 pairs consisting of children aged 9-14 years and their guardians in one area of low and one area of middle socioeconomic status (SES) (Embakasi Sub-County and Lang'ata Sub-County), in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study used waist worn Tri-axial Actigraph (GT3X+ and ActiSleep+) accelerometers to quantify PA and sedentary time (SED). Association between guardians' and children's PA was examined using linear regression, adjusting for guardians' educational attainment and household wealth.
Of the children, 42 (52.5%) and 76 (96.2%) of the guardians were women. Children in low SES areas spent more time ( < 0.001) in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared to children from middle SES area. The guardians in low SES area were younger and spent more time in light PA ( = 0.036) while their counterparts had higher daily SED ( = 0.049). Guardian's SED associated with higher children's SED ( = 0.033) even after adjusting for guardians' educational attainment ( = 0.032) and wealth ( = 0.05). There was no association between guardians' and children's MVPA.
Considered alongside the extant literature, these results suggest that health promotion strategies should aim to reduce parental SED time while also planning to increase children's PA.
撒哈拉以南非洲城市儿童身体活动（PA）的患病率不断下降，这一问题日益受到公共卫生领域的关注。应更加重视研究父母的身体活动行为对儿童身体活动模式的影响。我们探讨了肯尼亚内罗毕市县监护人与儿童对的24小时加速度计测量的运动行为之间的关联。
这项横断面研究评估了肯尼亚内罗毕市县一个低社会经济地位（SES）地区和一个中等社会经济地位地区（恩巴卡西县和朗加塔县）的80对由9至14岁儿童及其监护人组成的对子。该研究使用佩戴在腰部的三轴活动记录仪（GT3X+和ActiSleep+）加速度计来量化身体活动和久坐时间（SED）。使用线性回归分析监护人及儿童身体活动之间的关联，并对监护人的教育程度和家庭财富进行了调整。
儿童中，42名（52.5%）监护人及76名（96.2%）监护人为女性。与来自中等社会经济地位地区的儿童相比，低社会经济地位地区的儿童进行中度至剧烈身体活动的时间更多（<0.001）。低社会经济地位地区的监护人年龄较小，进行轻度身体活动的时间更多（=0.036），而他们的同龄人每日久坐时间更长（=0.049）。即使在对监护人的教育程度（=0.032）和财富（=0.05）进行调整后，监护人的久坐时间仍与儿童的久坐时间增加相关（=0.033）。监护人和儿童的中度至剧烈身体活动之间没有关联。
结合现有文献来看，这些结果表明，健康促进策略应旨在减少父母的久坐时间，同时计划增加儿童的身体活动。
