A novel mixed methods approach to assess children’s sedentary behaviours

Hurter, L; Cooper-Ryan, AM; Knowles, Z.R; Porcellato, L.A; Fairclough, S.J; Boddy, L.M

Abstract

Purpose: Accurately measuring sedentary behaviour (SB) in children is challenging by virtue of its complex nature. Whilst self-report questionnaires are susceptible to recall errors, accelerometer data lacks contextual information. This study aimed to explore the efficacy of using accelerometry combined with the Digitising Children’s Data Collection (DCDC) for Health application (app), to capture SB comprehensively. Methods: 74 children (9-10 years old) wore ActiGraph GT9X accelerometers for 7 days. Each received a SAMSUNG Galaxy Tab4 (SM-T230) tablet, with the DCDC app installed and a specially designed sedentary behaviour study downloaded. The app uses four data collection tools: 1) Questionnaire, 2) Take a photograph, 3) Draw a picture 4) Record my voice. Children self-reported their SB daily. Accelerometer data were analysed using R-package GGIR. App data were downloaded and individual participant profiles created. SBs reported were grouped into categories and reported as frequencies.

Results: Participants spent on average 629min, i.e. 73% of their waking time sedentary. App data revealed most of their out-of-school SB consisted of screen time (112 photos, 114 drawings and screen time mentioned 135 times during voice recordings). Playing with toys, reading, arts and crafts, and homework were also reported across all four data capturing tools on the app. On an individual level, data from the app often explained irregular patterns in physical activity and sedentary behaviour observed in accelerometer data.

Conclusion: This mixed methods approach to assessing SB adds context to accelerometer data, providing researchers with information needed for intervention design.

Citation

Hurter, L., Cooper-Ryan, A., Knowles, Z., Porcellato, L., Fairclough, S., & Boddy, L. (2020). A novel mixed methods approach to assess children’s sedentary behaviours. Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour, 3(1), 78-86. https://doi.org/10.1123/jmpb.2019-0040

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 20, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Mar 1, 2020
• Publication Date: Mar 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jan 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 2, 2020
• Journal: Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour
• Print ISSN: 2575-6605
• Electronic ISSN: 2575-6613
• Publisher: Human Kinetics
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 78-86
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jmpb.2019-0040