Objectively measured 24-h movement behaviours of child-guardian pairs in low-to-middle income households in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

Background

The decreasing prevalence of physical activity (PA) among urban children in Sub-Saharan Africa is a growing public health concern. More emphasis should focus on examining the influence of parental PA behaviour on the children’s PA patterns. We explored associations of 24 ​hour (h) accelerometer-measured movement behaviours of guardian-child pairs in Nairobi City County, Kenya.

Methods

This cross-sectional study assessed 80 pairs consisting of children aged 9–14 years and their guardians in one area of low and one area of middle socioeconomic status (SES) (Embakasi Sub-County and Lang’ata Sub-County), in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study used waist worn Tri-axial Actigraph (GT3X+ and ActiSleep+) accelerometers to quantify PA and sedentary time (SED). Association between guardians' and children’s PA was examined using linear regression, adjusting for guardians' educational attainment and household wealth.

Results

Of the children, 42 (52.5%) and 76 (96.2%) of the guardians were women. Children in low SES areas spent more time (p ​< ​0.001) in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared to children from middle SES area. The guardians in low SES area were younger and spent more time in light PA (p ​= ​0.036) while their counterparts had higher daily SED (p ​= ​0.049). Guardian’s SED associated with higher children’s SED (p ​= ​0.033) even after adjusting for guardians' educational attainment (p ​= ​0.032) and wealth (p ​= ​0.05). There was no association between guardians' and children’s MVPA.

Conclusion

Considered alongside the extant literature, these results suggest that health promotion strategies should aim to reduce parental SED time while also planning to increase children’s PA.