Longitudinal differences in levels and bouts of sedentary time by different day types among Australian toddlers and pre-schoolers.

ABSTRACT

The aim of the present study was to characterize sedentary time (ST) and sedentary bouts among young children, across a typical week and by day type (childcare days, non-childcare days and weekends), over a 12-month period.ST % (ST/accelerometer wear time*100) and number of sedentary bouts/hours were assessed using accelerometers at two time-points 12-months apart in 153 toddlers and 74 pre-schoolers. Differences between baseline and follow-up according to the whole week and the different day types were calculated using linear mixed models with adjustment for age, sex, socio-economic status and zBMI.During the weekend, toddlers had more 20-30 min/h sedentary bouts at follow-up than at baseline (MD 0.03). In pre-schoolers, ST % (MD-8.4), the number of 1-4 min/h (MD-1.45), 5-9 min/h (MD -0.46) and 10-19 min/h sedentary bouts (MD-0.11) were lower at baseline, compared to follow-up, on non-childcare days; as were the number of 5-9 min/h sedentary bouts on weekends (MD0.40). P < 0.05 for all.This study found that longer sedentary bouts (20-30 min/h) tended to decrease among toddlers and pre-schoolers, whereas ST and shorter sedentary bouts increased over 12-months, particularly among pre-schoolers on non-childcare weekdays. Non-childcare days, and home environment may be targeted for intervention to reduce ST and sedentary bouts among pre-schoolers.