Effects Of Different Parental Weight Status On Physical Activity And Sedentary Behavior Of Preschool Children

Objective:A cross-sectional survey was used to explore the influence of parental weight on physical activity level and sedentary behavior of preschool children,and to provide evidence for improving the physical activity level of preschool children and preventing obesity and other health hazards.Methods:96 families were recruited by this project from the Wuhan Maternal and Child Health Care Institution as research subjects.The families,in which the parents agreed to wear the accelerometer(Actigraph GT3X+)on their children for one week,were collected the physical examination data of children and parents when the children were 4-year-old.At the same time,professional investigator would explain how to use it and collect the questionnaire data.After screening,59 valid accelerometer data were finally used in our study.Besides,children would divide into high-risk group 1(BMI≥24kg/m~2)and control group 1(BMI<24kg/m~2)according to maternal BMI.Similarly,children would divide into high-risk group 2(BMI≥24kg/m~2)and Control group 2(BMI<24 kg/m~2)according to paternal BMI.Multiple linear regression was used to analyze the effects of parental weight on physical activity and sedentary behavior of 4-year-old children after controlling confounding factors.Results:(1)Differences between groups:As for high-risk group 1(26 cases)and control group 1(33 cases),they showed differences in maternal BMI&maternal weight status before pregnancy and BMI&BMI_Z of 4-year-old children(p<0.05).However,there are no difference between the two groups in other general characteristics.And there are no differences in general characteristics except for the 4-year-old children BMI and the child BMI_Z(p>0.05)between the high-risk group 2(20 cases)and the control group 2(39 cases).(2)As for“active time period in the afternoon and evening(16:00～20:59)”,the sedentary behavior time of children in high-risk group 2(27.0±8.4min/h)was higher than that of the control group 2 children(22.0±7.9min/h)(P=0.032).After controlling confounding factors and the maternal weight status,the paternal weight status was still positively correlated with the sedentary behavior level but not the physical activity of the 4-year-old child(β=0.289,P=0.030).As for“active time period in the morning(8:00~11:59)”,the sedentary behavior time of the high-risk group 1 of children(21.0±5.5min/h)was lower than that of the control group 1(25.3±9.5min/h)(P=0.033),and the overall physical activity level was higher than the control group 1(P=0.032).After controlling confounding factors and the paternal weight status,the maternal weight status was still negatively correlated with the sedentary behavior(β=-0.341,P=0.011)and positively correlated with the physical activity(β=-0.351,P=0.008)of the4-year-old children.Conclusions:Parental weight status have different impacts on children’s physical activity and sedentary behavior at different times.When children lived together with parents in the evening,only the paternal weight status was found to be a risk factor for children’s sedentary time.Therefore,we should pay more attention to father’s role and involvement in the family intervention program that aim to improve preschool children’s physical activity level and reduce their sedentary time.