scholarly journals Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours Are Associated with Children’s Psychological Health: A Cross-Sectional Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (20) ◽  
pp. 7509
Author(s):  
Margaret M. Thomas ◽  
Jessica Gugusheff ◽  
Heather J. Baldwin ◽  
Joanne Gale ◽  
Sinead Boylan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Vegetable Intake ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviours

Protecting children’s mental health is important and studies have shown that diet and exercise can have a positive impact. There are limited data available, however, from representative populations of children on the relationship between regular healthy lifestyle behaviours and psychological health. Data were obtained from the New South Wales Child Population Health Survey, 2013–2014. Parents were asked about diet, physical activity and screen time behaviours and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for one child aged 5–15. Higher SDQ scores indicate poorer psychological health and risk for mental health problems. Multivariable linear and logistic regression examined the relationships among dietary consumption, physical activity, screen time and SDQ scores, adjusting for potential confounding. Meeting screen time recommendations was most strongly associated with a lower SDQ total difficulties score (5–10 years: −1.56 (−2.68, −0.44); 11–15 years: −2.12 (−3.11, −1.12)). Children and adolescents who met screen time recommendations were also significantly less likely to have any score in the at-risk range. Children and adolescents meeting vegetable intake guidelines had significantly lower total difficulties scores (5–10 years: −1.54 (−3.03, −0.05); 11–15 years: −1.19 (−3.60, −0.39)), as did adolescents meeting discretionary food guidelines (−1.16 (−2.14, −0.18)) and children consuming the recommended fruit intake (−1.26 (−2.42, −0.10)). Our findings indicate that more effective interventions to increase the proportion of young Australians who meet the guidelines for diet and screen time would contribute to protecting their mental health.

scholarly journals Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours Are Associated With Children’s Psychological Health: a Cross-Sectional Analysis of Data From the New South Wales Child Population Health Survey 2013-2014

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Mary Thomas ◽  
Jessica Gugusheff ◽  
Heather Baldwin ◽  
Joanne Gale ◽  
Sinead Boylan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Population Health ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
New South ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviours ◽  
South Wales

Abstract Background Despite numerous studies showing that diet and exercise influence mental health in children, there is limited data available from representative populations of children and adolescents on the relationship between regular healthy lifestyle behaviour and psychological health. Methods Data were obtained from the New South Wales Child Population Health Survey, 2013–2014. Parents were asked about diet, physical activity and screen time behaviours and completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for one child aged 5-15. Higher scores on the SDQ indicate poorer psychological health and risk for mental health problems. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models examined the relationships between dietary consumption, physical activity, screen time and SDQ scores, adjusting for potential confounding. Results Proportionally more children than adolescents met the guidelines for appropriate diet, physical activity and screen time behaviours. Meeting screen time recommendations was most strongly associated with a lower SDQ total difficulties score (5-10yrs: -1.56 (-2.68, -0.44); 11-15yrs: -2.12 (-3.11, -1.12)). Children and adolescents who met screen time recommendations were also significantly less likely to have any score in the at-risk range. In addition, children and adolescents meeting vegetable intake guidelines had a significantly lower total difficulties score (5-10yrs: -1.54 (-3.03,-0.05); 11-15yrs: -1.19 (-3.60,-0.39)), as did adolescents meeting discretionary food guidelines (-1.16 (-2.14,-0.18)) and children consuming the recommended fruit intake (-1.26 (-2.42,-0.10)).Conclusions Since adopting regular healthy lifestyle behaviours is associated with better psychological health among children and adolescents, it is imperative that appropriate and effective interventions are implemented to increase these healthy lifestyle behaviours among young Australians.

scholarly journals Clustering of Sedentary Behaviours, Physical Activity, and Energy-Dense Food Intake in Six-Year-Old Children: Associations with Family Socioeconomic Status

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 1722
Author(s):  
Junwen Yang-Huang ◽  
Amy van Grieken ◽  
Lu Wang ◽  
Wilma Jansen ◽  
Hein Raat
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Socioeconomic Status ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Intervention Development ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviour ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviours ◽  
Sugary Drinks ◽  
Physically Inactive

This study examined the clustering of lifestyle behaviours in children aged six years from a prospective cohort study in the Netherlands. Additionally, we analysed the associations between socioeconomic status and the lifestyle behaviour clusters that we identified. Data of 4059 children from the Generation R Study were analysed. Socioeconomic status was measured by maternal educational level and net household income. Lifestyle behaviours including screen time, physical activity, calorie-rich snack consumption and sugar-sweetened beverages consumption were measured via a parental questionnaire. Hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses were applied. The associations between socioeconomic status and lifestyle behaviour clusters were assessed using logistic regression models. Three lifestyle clusters were identified: “relatively healthy lifestyle” cluster (n = 1444), “high screen time and physically inactive” cluster (n = 1217), and “physically active, high snacks and sugary drinks” cluster (n = 1398). Children from high educated mothers or high-income households were more likely to be allocated to the “relatively healthy lifestyle” cluster, while children from low educated mothers or from low-income households were more likely to be allocated in the “high screen time and physically inactive” cluster. Intervention development and prevention strategies may use this information to further target programs promoting healthy behaviours of children and their families.

scholarly journals Risks and Protective Factors Associated With Mental Health Symptoms During COVID-19 Home Confinement in Italian Children and Adolescents: The #Understandingkids Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Oliva ◽  
Giusy Russo ◽  
Renata Gili ◽  
Luigi Russo ◽  
Antonio Di Mauro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Protective Factors ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Job Loss ◽  
Home Schooling ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Mental Health Symptoms ◽  
Health Symptoms

Objective: To identify risk and protective factors for mental health symptoms associated with lifestyle changes caused by home confinement in pediatric subjects and in children and adolescents with a neuropsychiatric disorder.Study design: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted from May 10 to May 31, 2020. Two online anonymous surveys were developed: population-based and clinical-based (children with neuropsychiatric disorders). Outcomes included emotional and behavioral symptoms, as assessed by psychometric scales (BPSC, PPSC, PSC, CES-DC and SCARED, respectively), and lifestyle changes during home confinement (i.e., physical activity, screen time, home schooling, reading).Results: The sample included 9,688 pediatric subjects, and 289 children and adolescents with a neuropsychiatric disorder. The presence of siblings was a protective factor in all ages. In pre- and school children: male sex, a diagnosis of autism, residency in highly affected areas, high parental educational level or job loss, and screen time (>2 h/day) were risk factors. Physical activity, home-schooling, reading, talking with other people were protective factors. Residency in highly affected areas, a diagnosis of mood disorder, parental job loss, and screen time, were associated with a worsening of the depressive symptoms, whereas physical activity, talking with other people, playing with parents were protective activities. Screen time was also a risk factor for anxiety symptoms, while physical activity, reading and talking with other people were protective factors.Conclusions: This study identified risk and protective factors for mental health symptoms associated with lifestyle changes caused by COVID-19 home confinement to promote mental well-being in pediatrics during pandemic times.

scholarly journals The Current situation of Child and adolescent psychological problems and intervention in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 15-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenyan Jiao ◽  
Lin Liu ◽  
Rui Li ◽  
Na Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Mental Disease ◽  
Adolescent Mental Health ◽  
Child And Adolescent ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
Psychological Problems

In China, the psychological health problems of children and adolescents have been more and more serious recently. The psychological disorders not only have a lot of adverse effects for children and adolescents, but also were an important source of mental disease in adulthood. In order to make more people understand this serious problem, this paper summarized the current situation of child and adolescent mental health problems in China and the risk factors for child and adolescent mental health problems; additionally, the interventions of child and adolescent psychological problems were also reviewed in this paper.Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol. 7(3) 2016 15-17

scholarly journals Cyberbullying Involvement, Resilient Coping, and Loneliness of Adolescents During Covid-19 in Rural China

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ziqiang Han ◽  
Ziyi Wang ◽  
Yuhuan Li
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Peer Relations ◽  
Coping Strategy ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Mediating Role

Cyberbullying involvement can lead to internal health issues, especially mental health problems. Different coping strategies may reduce or enhance the strengths between cyberbullying experience and mental health problems. In this study, we examined the correlations between cyberbullying involvement and loneliness among a group of children and adolescents during the Covid-19 pandemic in China, focusing on investigating the protecting effect of the resilient coping strategy. The results demonstrated that 86.68% of the students were not involved in cyberbullying activities, 8.19% were victims only, 1.89% was perpetrators only, and 3.24% were both victims and perpetrators. Compared with the non-involved, the victims-only group had a significantly higher degree of reported loneliness and a lower score of resilient coping, while the differences of the other groups were not significant. Resilient coping strategy can significantly reduce loneliness and play a mediating role between cyberbullying victimization and loneliness, but such mitigating effect was relatively weak. Besides, peer relations were the primary protective factors, and age was the primary risk factor of loneliness among the controlled variables. This study can enrich current knowledge of cyberbullying involvement and the psychological health among children and adolescents, especially in the context of the pandemic.

scholarly journals Influence of socioeconomic variables on physical activity and screen time of children and adolescents during the COVID‑19 lockdown in Germany: the MoMo study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen C. E. Schmidt ◽  
Alexander Burchartz ◽  
Simon Kolb ◽  
Claudia Niessner ◽  
Doris Oriwol ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Screen Time ◽  
Housing Situation ◽  
Natural Experiments ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Sports Activity ◽  
Habitual Activity ◽  
The World

AbstractThe COVID‑19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic created a multitude of natural experiments about the change of human behavior in a widely unfamiliar situation. Besides physical and mental health, physical activity (PA) and people’s movement behaviors were of particular interest to researchers all over the world. In a recent study, we found that among youth in Germany, sports activity declined, whereas recreational screen time and habitual activity increased during the first COVID‑19 lockdown. In the present study, we analyze the influence of the socioeconomic status and the housing situation on the changes in PA behavior and recreational screen-time before and during the first COVID‑19 lockdown among children and adolescents living in Germany. We found an alignment of PA behavior among youth from families with different socioeconomic backgrounds during the first lockdown and identified the housing situation to be a meaningful predictor of the increase in habitual activity. We conclude that restriction policies, communities, and in the last instance parents need to enable access to nonorganized PA to all children and adolescents every day and especially during potential future lockdowns.

scholarly journals PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS OF EXERCISE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN OLDER ADULTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-134
Author(s):  
Petra Dolenc ◽  
Mojca Petrič
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Health Problems ◽  
Active Lifestyle

While regular physical activity has been shown to positively impact health and physical functioning across all age groups an active lifestyle may in particular have beneficial effects in advanced age. The objective of this article is to provide a brief overview of a contemporary research on the benefits of physical activity for psychological health and quality of life in the elderly. Older adults are more vulnerable than other age groups regarding mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. Many cross-sectional and experimental studies discussed in the article confirm the importance of a physically active lifestyle for preventing or reducing mental health problems and improving the quality of life among elderly people.

scholarly journals The Positive Impact and Associated Mechanisms of Physical Activity on Mental Health in Underprivileged Children and Adolescents: An Integrative Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Lauren T. Rose ◽  
Andrew Soundy
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Children And Adolescents ◽  
Autonomy Support ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Vigorous Physical Activity ◽  
Population Group ◽  
Integrative Review ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Assess Quality

(1) Background: Review-based studies are required to consider the different designs and data that describe the association between physical activity and mental health for underprivileged children and adolescents. There is a particular need to identify mechanisms which could explain the association, and factors which influence the association in this population group. (2) Methods: An integrative review with a systematic search was conducted in three stages: (i) a systematic literature search on four databases from inception until May 2020. Studies were eligible if they examined underprivileged children, involved moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and had a focus on at least one outcome measure related to mental health. (ii) Two critical appraisal tools were used to assess quality across different study designs. (iii) Synthesis was undertaken in four stages, examining social, internal and physical outcomes and mechanisms. (3) Results: A total of 16 studies were included (2 qualitative; 12 quantitative and 2 mixed methods). Fifteen (15/16; 93.8%) showed an association between MVPA and a significant improvement in at least one mental health outcome. The most studied outcomes included: internal aspects (n = 14), significant effects were identified in 12/14 studies; social aspects (n = 6), significant effects were identified across all studies and finally physical aspects (n = 5), significant effects were found in 3/5 studies. Autonomy support was identified as a mechanism to explain the change, whilst age and gender influenced the strength of the association. (4) Conclusions: The findings provide confirmation of the link between MVPA and the improved mental health and wellbeing of disadvantaged children and adolescents. Future research must consider the long-term effect through longitudinal studies, along with determining whether any specific types of PA are more impactful than others.

Psychological health and physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ketevan Inasaridze
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Psychological Health ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
The World ◽  
Adults And Children ◽  
Mental And Physical Health

In response to the spread of the coronavirus in the world, both adults and children were restricted from social interactions, had to stop physical and fitness activities due to being locked in their homes, radically changed their lifestyle and physical activity patterns. Restriction of physical activity, among other factors, has had a significant impact on the emergence of mental health problems in humans. Offering physical activity strategies to the population in different countries by specialists will have a significant positive impact on improving their mental and physical health and their quality of life.

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