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This study examined adolescent muscle-strengthening exercise (MSE) participation at home and associated socioecological correlates during Australia’s initial COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Adolescents (N = 731, Mage = 16.3, SD = 1.2 years, 73% female) self-reported their MSE participation in February 2020 (pre-lockdown; at a gym or at home) and April/May (during lockdown; at home only as gyms were closed). They also reported a range of potential individual, family, and home environment correlates. Remoteness and area-level socioeconomic disadvantage were also considered. Logistic regression models examined potential correlates of participation in any MSE and MSE engagement ≥3 times/week during April/May. Fewer adolescents participated in MSE during April/May (48%) than February (54%), however, the proportions that engaged in MSE ≥3 times/week were the same (30%). Prioritising being active every day (OR = 2.43, 95% CI = 1.52, 3.90), being active with sibling/s ≥ 5 days/week (OR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.00, 5.00) and access to weights at home (OR = 2.98, 95% CI = 1.94, 4.57) were associated with higher odds of any MSE participation at home during April/May. These variables were also positively associated with MSE participation at home ≥3 times/week. Understanding how to support adolescents to prioritise being active, engage in MSE with siblings, and provide equipment may assist adolescents to engage in home-based MSE. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The majority of Australian adolescents are insufficiently active and becoming car dependent. Replacing short passive travel (i.e. car, public transport) with active travel could be an important potential strategy to increase physical activity. This paper aims to characterize adolescents’ travel patterns to various destinations, identify passive trips that could be feasibly replaced by active travel, and the characteristics associated with those trips. Analyses were based on 2,192 Victorian secondary school students aged 12-17 years with 24-h travel diary data in the Victorian Integrated Survey of Travel Activity 2012 − 2016. Feasible distance thresholds for walking and cycling were determined at the 80th percentile of distances of reported walking and cycling trips in the sample. Comparison tests were conducted to assess whether travel patterns differed by sociodemographic characteristics. Multilevel logistic regression analyses identified characteristics of individuals that could replace passive trips with active travel, and characteristics of passive trips that could be replaced by active travel. About 11% of adolescents could feasibly replace at least one of their short passive trips with walking and 48% could feasibly replace at least one of their short passive trips with cycling. Of all the passive trips recorded, about 8% could be replaced with walking and 44% could be replaced with cycling. Trips that commenced within daylight hours, and trips made for shopping and social reasons had higher odds of being replaceable by active travel. The sizable proportion of replaceable passive trips within the cyclable threshold calls for greater emphasis on encouraging cycling.

Participatory school ground design projects have acknowledged benefits for children’s sense of empowerment, ownership and learning, but the play behaviour outcomes of these school ground projects a...

Improving sedentary measurement is critical to understanding sedentary-health associations in youth. This study assessed agreement between the thigh-worn activPAL and commonly used hip-worn ActiGraph accelerometer methods for assessing sedentary patterns in children. Both devices were worn by 8-12-year-olds (N = 195) for 4.6 +/- 1.9 days. Two ActiGraph cut-points were applied to two epoch durations: 20%. ActiGraph 300c/60s had a better agreement than the other cut-points, but all ICCs were

This study examined how children's physical activity levels during recess and lunchtime and the contribution of recess and lunchtime to daily physical activity differed across seasons. Three hundred and twenty-six children aged 8-11years from Australia participated. Physical activity was measured every 15-seconds using hip-mounted ActiGraph accelerometers for 7 consecutive days during the winter (n=246), spring (n=211), summer (n=161) and autumn terms (n=139). Data were collected 2012-2013. Time spent in light- (LPA) moderate- (MPA), vigorous- (VPA), and moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) during recess and lunchtime were calculated. Longitudinal data were analysed using multilevel analyses and adjusted for potential confounders. The results showed that compared to winter, children engaged in significantly less MVPA and VPA in spring and summer during lunchtime (p

Refereed/Peer-reviewed Little is known about whether physical activity compensation occurs and, if so, what are potential moderators of such responses. This study examined whether children's physical activity, sedentary time and energy expenditure on one day was associated with these behaviours the following day, and what factors may moderate observed associations. One hundred and twenty-seven children (8-11 years) wore an ActiGraph accelerometer for eight days. Time spent in sedentary time and physical activity was obtained. Daily energy expenditure was also assessed using a SenseWear Armband (n=98). Moderators examined were sex, age, BMI, fitness, and fundamental movement skills (FMS). Multilevel analyses were conducted using generalized mixed models. On any given day, every additional 10 minutes spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was associated with 9.3 minutes less MVPA the following day. Every additional 10kcal expended on one day was associated with 2.9 fewer kcal expended the following day. Additional time spent sedentary on any given day was associated with less light physical activity the following day in children with lower FMS. The results are largely consistent with the compensation hypothesis, with children appearing to compensate their activity between days. Strategies to minimise potential compensatory changes may be needed for children overall rather than for specific population sub-groups. usc

The association between neighbourhood walkability and children's independent mobility using an ecological approach is relatively unexplored. In 2007, 1480 10- to 12-year-old children (and 1314 parents) attending low and high walkable schools across Perth, Western Australia, completed surveys. Objective built environment, social-cultural and individual-level factors were explored. High neighbourhood walkability predicted girls' independent mobility. However, girls and boys were more likely to be independently mobile if they and their parents were confident that they could travel independently. Providing safe, walkable neighbourhoods – particularly for girls – combined with strategies to improve children's skills to safely navigate their neighbourhood may increase independent mobility.

To examine whether aspects of the family food environment were associated with body mass index (BMI) z-score and weight status in children, cross-sectionally and prospectively over 3 years.Four aspects of the family food environment (breakfast eating patterns, food consumption while watching television, parental provision of energy-dense foods and child consumption of energy-dense food at home and away from home) were assessed with a questionnaire completed by parents of 161 children aged 5-6 years and 132 children aged 10-12 years in Melbourne, Australia in 2002/03. In 2002/03 and 2006, children's BMI z-score and weight status (non-overweight or overweight) was calculated from measured height and weight.At baseline, 19% of younger and 21% of older children were overweight. Three years later, a greater proportion of younger (now aged 8-9 years) compared with older (aged 13-15 years) children were classified as overweight (28% versus 18%). Few of the family food environment variables were associated with children's BMI z-score and weight status cross-sectionally and longitudinally. However, among older children, more frequent dinner consumption while watching television was associated with a higher BMI z-score longitudinally (B=0.3, 95% CI=0.0, 0.6), less frequent breakfast consumption was associated with higher odds of overweight longitudinally (OR=2.2, 95% CI=1.1-4.7), and more frequent fast food consumption at home was associated with higher odds of overweight cross-sectionally (OR=3.1, 95% CI=1.4-7.0).This study found few significant associations between aspects of the family food environment and BMI z-score or weight status in a sample of Australian children.