Familial Correlates of Leisure Time Activities among Polish Early School-Age Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

The after-school period may play a critical role in the accumulation of children's physical activity and sedentary time. The study aimed to characterize familial correlates of early school-age children's leisure time activities. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a group of 223 children (mean age 8.7 ± 0.5) and their parents. The percentage of children with daily leisure time physical activity (LTPA) >1 h was 23.32%, and with daily screen time <2 h was 32.74%. The average children's leisure time physical activity was significantly higher on weekend days than on weekdays (114.85 vs. 89.43 min, p = 0.005). Similarly, the average screen time was higher on weekend days than on weekdays (95.50 vs. 66.10 min, p < 0.001). The multivariate regression analysis revealed that independent predictors of children's leisure time physical activity were the father's education level and the father's occupational status, whereas at least one parent with higher education correlated negatively with children's longer screen time. The study showed that children's leisure time activities are associated with parental education and differ significantly between weekdays and weekend days. These findings underline the need for screening for unfavorable health behaviors among early school-age children, and indicate that health promotion programs should be oriented on both parents and children aiming to improve parental health consciousness, reduce screen time and increase physical activity, especially during the weekend.

Keywords: leisure time; lifestyle; physical activity; school-age children; screen time.

Figure 1

Process of selecting elementary schools and the final study group.

Figure 2

The number of children who complied with the recommendations for physical activity and screen time in their free time.

Figure 3

Cumulated number (percentage) of children who, during free time, were both physically active and limited screen time to less than 2 h. The number of children who, each day of the week, were physically active (>1 h) and limited screen time (<2 h) was 9 (4.04%). The number of children who complied with both recommendations at least 6 days per week (6 or 7 days) was 25 (11.21%), etc.

Figure 4

The mean time of total LTPA during the week, with subdivision of sport and active play.

Figure 5

The mean time of leisure screen time during the week, with subdivision to watching television and playing computer games (including the use of a smartphone, tablet, or other electronic devices).