Fang Yuan, Liu Jing, Zhang Mengge, Wang Zixin, Chen Siyu, Zheng Chen, Cooper Simon B, Sun Fenghua
Department of Health and Physical Education, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Department of Education Psychology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China.
Child Care Health Dev. 2025 Sep;51(5):e70144. doi: 10.1111/cch.70144.
In the Chinese context, a greater emphasis is placed on academic skills rather than healthy lifestyles among pre-school children. To promote well-being as a whole, a comprehensive interpretation of multivariant relationships between health, functioning and well-being is necessary for children in this age group.
The current study adopted a network analysis among 422 urban Chinese pre-school children (57.8 ± 9.7 months, 54.2% boys) to detect the inter-relationships between the variables from nine domains, including demographics, adiposity, physical activity levels, executive function, motor coordination, sleep disturbance, diet health and mental strengths and difficulties. Data was obtained through both questionnaires completed by parents and direct assessment among children.
Findings indicated that poor well-being outcomes were prevalent among the participating children, including risk of central obesity (18.9%), global sleep disturbance (38.4%) and moderate-to-severe mental difficulties (42.6%). The network analysis demonstrated that age fully/partially mediated the associations among child functioning such as executive function and motor coordination. Mental strength, mental difficulties and sleep health had mutual correlations, however, none of them had a significant relationship with age. Furthermore, sex played little role in the network.
This study supports that healthy lifestyle is crucial for Chinese pre-school children to learn and practice. Results of network analysis implies that education on child's mental health are warranted for children, parents and teachers. A balance between academic achievement and child's health well-being should be prioritized in child care and early childhood education.
在中国，学前儿童更注重学术技能而非健康的生活方式。为了全面促进幸福，有必要对这个年龄段儿童的健康、功能和幸福之间的多变量关系进行综合解读。
本研究对422名中国城市学前儿童（57.8±9.7个月，54.2%为男孩）进行了网络分析，以检测九个领域变量之间的相互关系，包括人口统计学、肥胖、身体活动水平、执行功能、运动协调、睡眠障碍、饮食健康以及心理优势和困难。数据通过家长填写的问卷和对儿童的直接评估获得。
研究结果表明，参与研究的儿童中普遍存在不良的幸福结果，包括中心性肥胖风险（18.9%）、整体睡眠障碍（38.4%）和中度至重度心理困难（42.6%）。网络分析表明，年龄完全/部分介导了执行功能和运动协调等儿童功能之间的关联。心理优势、心理困难和睡眠健康之间存在相互关联，然而，它们与年龄均无显著关系。此外，性别在网络中作用不大。
本研究支持健康的生活方式对中国学前儿童的学习和实践至关重要。网络分析结果表明，有必要对儿童、家长和教师进行心理健康教育。在儿童保育和幼儿教育中，应优先平衡学业成绩和儿童的健康幸福。
