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Patterns of health behaviours predict obesity in A ustralian children
Author(s) -
Magee Christopher A,
Caputi Peter,
Iverson Don C
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12163
Subject(s) - medicine , obesity , odds ratio , screen time , confidence interval , logistic regression , odds , psychological intervention , demography , physical activity , latent class model , gerontology , physical therapy , psychiatry , statistics , mathematics , sociology
Aims The study aims to examine whether patterns of health behaviours (based on sleep duration, physical activity, screen time and diet) were associated with obesity in Australian children. Methods This paper included 1833 children aged 6–7 years (51.6% male) recruited in 2006 as part of the L ongitudinal S tudy of A ustralian C hildren. Latent class analysis was performed to identify the presence of distinct behavioural profiles on the basis of sleep duration, physical activity, screen time and eating habits. Logistic regression was performed to examine the association between the behavioural profiles and obesity assessed at baseline and 2‐year follow‐up. Results Three behavioural profiles, healthy (27.7%), sedentary (24.8%) and short sleepers/unhealthy eaters (47.5%), were identified. Compared with the healthy profile, the sedentary profile (odds ratio = 1.59, 95% confidence interval (1.06–2.38)) and short sleepers/unhealthy eaters (odds ratio = 1.47 (1.03–2.13)) had elevated odds of obesity at 2‐year follow‐up. Conclusions The present study identified distinct profiles of health behaviours in this sample of Australian children. These findings add to existing findings that many health behaviours co‐occur and that obesity interventions should target patterns of behaviours in children.