scholarly journals Screen Time and Sleep of Rural and Urban South African Preschool Children

Author(s):  
Simone A. Tomaz ◽  
Trina Hinkley ◽  
Rachel A. Jones ◽  
Estelle D. Watson ◽  
Rhian Twine ◽  
...  

This study aimed to investigate the extent to which preschool children meet guidelines for screen time (<1 h/day) and sleep (10–13 h/24-h) and explored home factors that affect these behaviors. Parents of preschoolers across income settings in South Africa (urban high-income n = 27, urban low-income n = 96 and rural low-income n = 142) completed a questionnaire. Urban high-income children had higher rates of exceeding screen time guidelines (67.0%) than children from urban low-income (26.0%) and rural low-income (3.5%) settings. Most children (81.0%) met sleep guidelines on weekdays and on weekends (75.0%). More urban high-income children met the sleep guideline, in comparison to both low-income settings. Fewer urban high-income parents (50.0%) thought that screen time would not affect their preschooler’s health, compared to urban low-income (90.4%) and rural low-income (81.7%) parents. Weeknight bedtime was positively correlated with both weekday screen time (p = 0.001) and weekday TV time (p = 0.005), indicating that more time on screens correlated with later bedtimes. Meeting screen time and sleep guidelines differs across income settings, but it is evident that parents of preschoolers across all income settings would benefit from greater awareness about guidelines.

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Draper ◽  
Simone A Tomaz ◽  
Caylee J Cook ◽  
Sasha S Jugdav ◽  
Candice Ramsammy ◽  
...  

Background: The International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years, SUNRISE, was initiated to assess the extent to which young children meet movement behaviour guidelines (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, screen time, sleep). Objective: The South African SUNRISE pilot study assessed movement behaviours in preschool children from two low-income settings, and associations between these movement behaviours, adiposity, motor skills and executive function (EF). Methods: Preschool child/parent pairs (n = 89) were recruited from preschools in urban Soweto and rural Sweetwaters. Height and weight were measured to assess adiposity. Physical activity was assessed using accelerometers while sedentary behaviour, screen time and sleep were assessed via parent report. Fine and gross motor development were measured using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3, and EF was assessed using the Early Years Toolbox. Results: The proportion of children meeting the physical activity guideline was 84% , 66% met the sleep guideline ,48% met the screen time guideline , and 26% met all three guidelines. Rural children were more active, but spent more time on screens compared to urban children. Most children were on track for gross (96%) and fine motor (73%) development, and mean EF scores were in the expected range for all EF measures. EF was negatively associated with screen time, and gross motor skills were positively associated with physical activity. Conclusion: The South African SUNRISE study contributes to the growing literature on 24-hour movement behaviours in SA preschool children, and highlights that these behaviours require attention in this age group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dale E. Rae ◽  
Simone A. Tomaz ◽  
Rachel A. Jones ◽  
Trina Hinkley ◽  
Rhian Twine ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The extent to which income setting or rural and urban environments modify the association between sleep and obesity in young children is unclear. The aims of this cross-sectional observational study were to (i) describe and compare sleep in South African preschool children from rural low-income (RL), urban low-income (UL) and urban high-income (UH) settings; and (ii) test for associations between sleep parameters and body mass index (BMI). Methods Participants were preschoolers (5.2 ± 0.7y, 49.5% boys) from RL (n = 111), UL (n = 65) and UH (n = 22) settings. Height and weight were measured. Sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity were assessed using accelerometery. Results UL children had higher BMI z-scores (median: 0.39; interquartile range: − 0.27, 0.99) than the UH (− 0.38; − 0.88, 0.11) and RL (− 0.08; − 0.83, 0.53) children (p = 0.001). The UL children had later bedtimes (p < 0.001) and wake-up times (p < 0.001) and shorter 24 h (p < 0.001) and nocturnal (p < 0.001) sleep durations than the RL and UH children. After adjusting for age, sex, setting, SB and PA, for every hour less sleep obtained (24 h and nocturnal), children were 2.28 (95% CI: 1.28–4.35) and 2.22 (95% CI: 1.27–3.85) more likely, respectively, to belong to a higher BMI z-score quartile. Conclusions Shorter sleep is associated with a higher BMI z-score in South African preschoolers, despite high levels of PA, with UL children appearing to be particularly vulnerable.


2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelius Kruger ◽  
Roy D. Johnson

Background:To date, few studies have focused on how embedded Knowledge Management (KM) is found in the roots of an organisation. Specifically, not much is known whether employees and managers hold similar perceptions regarding KM or if organisational size plays a role in the establishment of KM maturity.Objective: The objective of this article was to determine what role organisational size plays in the establishment of KM maturity and how different managerial levels viewed their organisations KM maturity.Method: The authors gained insight into KM maturity in different industry groupings over a five-year period from a large urban South African University engaged in numerous collaboration programmes with industry. In total, 434 employees were interviewed over three grouping levels (operational, middle and senior management).Results: The findings support arguments that irrespective of organisational size, knowledge orientated issues are applicable to all organisations. However, with significant differences in scores recorded over all maturity sections in South Africa, the findings indicated that different sized organisations address knowledge-orientated issues differently.Conclusion: Findings challenge the argument that the manner in which knowledge-orientated issues are addressed differ only slightly depending on organisational size. Smaller-sized organisations prefer a more personal approach, whilst larger-sized organisations prefer knowledge transfer via technology. Irrespective of organisational size, commitment holds the key to KM success. Commitment shown by middle management regarding KM is a differentiator.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 25488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kennedy N. Otwombe ◽  
Max Petzold ◽  
Tebogo Modisenyane ◽  
Neil A. Martinson ◽  
Tobias Chirwa

Author(s):  
Rochelle Sassman ◽  
Brian Lehaney ◽  
Rajeev K. Bali ◽  
Raouf N. G. Naguib ◽  
Ian M. Marshall

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hermanus S. GEYER

Informal businesses used to be something that was only tolerated in the former black townships during the years of apartheid. Since then the informal business sector has become an integral part of the central business setup of cities in South Africa. It not only serves to widen the security net of the urban poor in cities, it also represents the outcome of the democratization process in the country over the past fifteen years. Yet, there has been a tendency amongst local authorities to take steps to reduce the footprint of this sector in the urban environment in recent years. This trend ties in with the new approach of government to transform South African cities to become ’world class’ centres - a step that is aimed at making the cities more visually acceptable to visitors from abroad. In this paper an attempt is made to demonstrate the importance of the informal sector within the urban business makeup and to show what role it played in the spatial-structural evolution of the urban economies during the 1990s. The paper analyzes the structure of the urban business sector as a whole and structurally links the formal and informal sectors, demonstrating the importance of both sectors in the economic makeup of the cities. It analyses the structure of the informal sector and shows how different layers of the sector potentially relates to the formal urban sector.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bashir Olanrewaju Ganiyu ◽  
Julius Ayodeji Fapohunda ◽  
Rainer Haldenwang

Purpose This study aims to identify and establish effective housing financing concepts to be adopted by government in achieving its mandate of providing sustainable affordable housing for the poor to decrease the building of shacks, as well as proposing solutions to the housing deficit in South Africa. A rise in demand and shortage in supply of housing calls for the need to address issues of affordable housing in South Africa, and developing countries in general, to ensure a stable and promising future for poor families. Design/methodology/approach Literature has revealed that the South African government, at all levels, accorded high priority to the provision of low-cost housing. Thus, government has adopted subsidy payment as a method of financing affordable housing to ensure that houses are allocated free to the beneficiaries. This also addresses the historically race-based inequalities of the past, but unfortunately, this has not been fully realised. This study uses a sequential mixed method approach, where private housing developers and general building contractors were the research participants. The qualitative data were analysed using a case-by-case analysis, and quantitative data were analysed using a descriptive statistical technique on SPSS. Findings The results of the qualitative analysis reveal a gross abuse of the housing subsidies system by the beneficiaries of government-funded housing in South Africa. This is evident from illegal sale of the houses below market value. This has led to a continual building of shacks and an increased number of people on the housing waiting list instead of a decrease in the housing deficit. The results from quantitative analysis affirm the use of “Mortgage Payment Subsidies, Mortgage Payment Deductions, Down-Payment Grant and Mortgage Interest Deductions” as viable alternatives to subsidy payment currently in use to finance affordable housing projects by the South African Government. Practical implications At the moment, the focus of the South African National Government is continual provision of free housing to the historically disadvantage citizens, but the housing financing method being used encourages unapproved transfer of ownership in the affordable housing sector. This study thus recommends the use of an all-inclusive housing financing method that requires a monetary contribution from the beneficiaries to enable them take control of the process. Originality/value The relational interface model proposed in this study will reduce pressure on government budgetary provision for housing and guarantee quick return of private developers’ investment in housing. Government must, as a matter of urgency, launch a continuous awareness programme to educate the low-income population on the value and the long-term benefits of the housing.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1097184X2092587
Author(s):  
Antonella (Toni) Pyke

Changes in political, social, and economic structures in South Africa during the transition from apartheid to democratic governance in 1994 have put men and masculinity/ies under public and scholarly scrutiny. Attention has generally focused on the links between masculinity and violence, particularly among black men from low-income backgrounds, in attempts to understand the widespread levels of sexual violence throughout the country. Together, but in tension with the focus on men and violence, has been a literature that documents gender change in South Africa. This literature argues for example, that men are embracing fatherhood and becoming more engaged in childcare. Nevertheless this is a minority literature that is overshadowed by a focus on men and violence. In this article, I reflect on the lives of a group of men living in Alexandra township in Johannesburg, who are exploring what it means to be a man in a contemporary township setting, and the issues and challenges they face in attempts to transition their masculine identities.


Author(s):  
Tshimangadzo Selina Mudau

The chapter presents the use of community engagement as a tool to facilitate rural development in (South) Africa. In its discussion, the researcher used desktop literature review to analyze, compare, and gain insights guiding the use of community engagement to enhance social transformation and sustainable development. The discussion is advanced from the historical background of the emergence of African universities and community engagement. The focus was reflected against the backdrop of the Western approach used among various global universities. In this view, the underpinning objectives, relationship with the researched, and the role of the researching university are detailed. Practical evidence of positive collaborative results within the (South) African communities within the rural and urban communities by universities and other organizations have also been provided. A contrast of various types of community engagement is also provided.


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