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Background: Neighborhoods are one setting to promote children's physical activity. This study examined associations between neighborhood features and children's physical activity and whether season or socioeconomic status modified these associations. Methods: Parents (n = 641) of children aged 6–10 years completed the Neighborhood Environment Walkability Scale—Abbreviated. Walkability was objectively measured at 400, 800, and 1200 m around the centroid of participants' postal codes. Children's physical activity was measured via StepsCount pedometers and parental report. Regression analyses were performed with interaction terms for season and socioeconomic status. Multiple imputation was used primarily to triangulate the results for children with missing steps data (n = 192). Results: Higher perceived residential density and traffic hazards were significantly associated with lower squareroot transformed parental-reported physical activity and steps per day, respectively. Higher perceived aesthetics was associated with higher squareroot transformed parental-reported physical activity. Socioeconomic status modified 2 associations though they were not significant upon stratification. During winter months, better perceived infrastructure and safety for walking was associated with higher squareroot transformed parental-reported physical activity. No other significant associations emerged. Conclusion: Residential density, traffic hazards, and aesthetics are important for children's physical activity. Few associations were modified by socioeconomic status or season. The need for objective and subjective measures of the neighborhood environment and children's physical activity is apparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether student tobacco, alcohol, marijuana use, and sedentary behaviour were associated with the educational outcomes of health-related absenteeism, truancy, and academic motivation in a nationally representative sample of Canadian youth. Descriptive analyses indicate a high proportion of students missed school due to health, and skipped class in the last month. Truancy increased with age, and male students are more likely to skip class and be less academically motivated. Logistic regression models showed significant associations exist between substance use and all three educational outcomes. These findings support the need for coordinated action and funding in student health promotion. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

Background: Sedentary behavior is linked to many adverse health outcomes; however, its relationship with academic achievement is less understood. We examined sedentary behavior's impact on academic achievement over 3 years in 4408 adolescents from the COMPASS study. Methods: Sedentary behavior (screen-based: watching/streaming television shows/movies, video/computer games, surfing the internet; communication-based: texting/messaging/emailing, talking on the phone; and doing homework) and academic achievement (overall math and English marks) were self-reported. Results: Holding time fixed, moving from the lowest quartile (Q1) to Q2, Q3, or Q4 of watching/streaming television shows/movies (Q2: OR = 0.90; 95%CI: 0.84-0.97, Q3: OR = 0.85; 95%CI: 0.74-0.98, Q4: OR = 0.74; 95%CI: 0.64-0.85) or to Q2 of surfing the internet (Q2: OR = 0.87; 95%CI: 0.78-0.97) decreased the likelihood of surpassing English standards. Moving from Q1 to Q2 of communication-based sedentary behavior (OR = 0.90; 95%CI: 0.82-0.99) decreased the likelihood of surpassing math standards. Moving from Q1 to Q4 (OR = 1.31; 95%CI: 1.15-1.50) of watching/streaming television shows/movies increased the likelihood of surpassing math standards. Moving from Q1 to Q4 of doing homework (OR = 1.16; 95%CI: 1.02-1.31) increased the likelihood of surpassing English standards. Conclusions: Predicting academic achievement from total sedentary behavior is challenging. Targeting specific types of sedentary behavior should be considered for improving math and English achievement.

Background: Many Canadian schools offer breakfast programs; however, students' engagement in these programs is low, while breakfast skipping is highly prevalent among youth. This study examined whether the availability of breakfast programs supports adolescents' regular breakfast eating, and identified characteristics of breakfast skippers who are not using these programs. Methods: Data from 30,771 secondary school students from Ontario and Alberta, Canada, participating in Year 3 (2014-2015) of the COMPASS study were used for descriptive and logistic regression analyses. Participants were categorized by self-reported breakfast eating and school breakfast program use. Results: Sixteen percent of participants reported using school breakfast programs. Breakfast skipping was highly prevalent among participants, regardless of their breakfast program use. Characteristics significantly associated with program use included traveling to school via public transit or a school bus, being a bullying victim, and having a high school connectedness score. A desire to lose weight and non-involvement in school sports were significantly associated with being a "breakfast skipper/nonprogram user." Conclusions: School breakfast programs do not consistently support regular breakfast eating, even among adolescents actively engaged in these programs. Future research should identify and evaluate practices to bolster participation in breakfast programs and promote regular breakfast eating among adolescents.

Background: Although schools are considered opportune settings for youth health interventions, a gap between school health research and practice exists. COMPASS, a longitudinal study of Ontario and Alberta secondary students and schools (2012-2021), used integrated knowledge translation to enhance schools' uptake of research findings. Schools received annual summaries of their students' health behaviors and suggestions for action, and were linked with COMPASS knowledge brokers to support them in making changes to improve student health. This research examines the factors that influenced schools' participation in knowledge brokering and associated outcomes. Methods: School- and student-level data from the first 3 years of the COMPASS study (2012-2013; 2013-2014; 2014-2015) were used to examine factors that influenced knowledge brokering participation, school-level changes, and school-aggregated student health behaviors. Results: Both school characteristics and study-related factors influenced schools' participation in knowledge brokering. Knowledge brokering participation was significantly associated with school-level changes related to healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco programming, but the impact of those changes was not evident at the aggregate student level. Conclusions: Knowledge brokering provided a platform for collaboration between researchers and school practitioners, and led to school-level changes. These findings can inform future researcher-school practitioner partnerships to ultimately enhance student health.

Background: Comprehensive, prospective, longitudinal data are lacking on the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on adolescents' movement behaviors (moderate to vigorous physical activity [MVPA], sleep, recreational screen use, and strengthening exercises). The purpose was to compare movement behavior changes among adolescents affected by the pandemic with controls. Methods: Survey data from 10,659 students at 82 Canadian secondary schools (aged 12–19 y) during the 2018–2019 and 2019–2020 school years were analyzed. One-year change in time spent in movement behaviors and likelihood of meeting Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines was compared between preoutbreak controls (October 2019–March 2020) and early outbreak respondents (May–July 2020) after controlling for sociodemographic factors. Results: Compared with controls, the early outbreak group reported a greater decrease in time spent in MVPA and greater increases in time spent in sleep and recreational screen use. The early outbreak group was less likely to meet MVPA and recreational screen time guidelines but more likely to meet guidelines for strengthening exercises and sleep duration. Conclusions: Findings for MVPA and screen time changes were in the same direction as retrospective reports from children and youth samples. Sleep adherence may have improved due to no longer having to commute to school. Strengthening exercises may represent physical activity that is easier to do in the home with minimal equipment leading to improved adherence during restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic intensified the impact of risk factors for adolescent mental health, including financial worry. Social support has shown to protect from negative mental health during times of stress. We examined the effect of financial worry on changes in anxiety and depression symptoms among Canadian adolescents prior to and during the pandemic, and assessed whether social support from family and friends moderated any changes. Methods: We analyzed 2-year linked data from the 2018/19 (pre-pandemic) and 2020/21 (during-pandemic) waves of the COMPASS study, with reports from 12 995 Canadian secondary school students. A series of multilevel linear regressions were conducted to examine the main hypotheses under study. Results: Students scored an average (SD) of 7.2 (5.8) on the anxiety (GAD-7) and 10.0 (6.5) on the depression (CESD-10) scales; 16.1% reported they experienced financial worry during the pandemic. Financial worry was a strong and significant predictor of increased anxiety scores (+1.7 score between those reporting "true/mostly true" versus "false/mostly false") during the pandemic, but not for depression scores. Low family and friend support were associated with anxiety, and low family support was associated with depression. No significant interactions were detected between social support and financial worry. Conclusion: Pandemic-related financial worry was significantly associated with anxiety in our large sample of Canadian adolescents. Clinical and public health initiatives should be aware of adolescents' financial worry and its associations with anxiety during times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Income inequality is theorized to impact health. However, evidence among adolescents is limited. This study examined the association between income inequality and health‐related school absenteeism (HRSA) in adolescents. METHODS: Participants were adolescents (n = 74,501) attending secondary schools (n = 136) that participated in the 2018‐2019 wave of the COMPASS study. Chronic (missing ≥3 days of school in the previous 4 weeks) and problematic (missing ≥11 days of school in the previous 4 weeks) HRSA was self‐reported. Income inequality was assessed via the Gini coefficient at the census division (CD) level. Multilevel modeling was used. RESULTS: Greater income inequality was associated with a higher likelihood of chronic and problematic HRSA (chronic: OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.30; problematic: OR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.11 to 1.50). Increased predicted probabilities for Problematic HRSA were observed at greater degrees of income inequality among students who identified as either white, black, Latinx, or mixed, while protective associations were observed among students who identified as Asian or other. No associations were modified by gender. CONCLUSION: Income inequality demonstrated unfavorable associations with HRSA, which was modified by racial identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]