The interactions between movement behaviors (physical activity, screen time, and sleep) affect the health of preschool children. Therefore, we examined the status of adherence to combinations of 24-hour movement guidelines (24-h MG) in Japanese preschool children and determined the associations between overweight/obesity and adherence to these 24-h MG. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 421 children aged 3–5 years (216 boys and 199 girls) living in the northeastern region of Japan. To evaluate the 24-h MG, physical activity over one week was measured using a three-axis accelerometer. For screen time and sleep duration, a questionnaire survey was conducted. Children who failed to meet all the 24-h MG had a higher probability of overweight/obesity than those who met all the 24-h MG (odds ratio 1.139, 95% confidence interval: 1.009, 1.285). The percentage of adherence to the 24-h MG was 91.6% for physical activity, 82.5% for sleep duration, and 33.7% for screen time, and only 21.5% of the children adhered to all three areas of the guidelines. Our findings have important implications for developing public health policies and effective intervention programs for preschool children.

In Japan, standing while working has not yet become commonplace, and there is little evidence to support the benefits of standing during the workday. Therefore, this study assessed the relationship between the introduction of a sit–stand desk and its ability to reduce the negative effects of sitting too long and increase employees’ general health and productivity. Seventy-four Japanese desk workers participated in this three-month intervention study. Using a randomized controlled trial, the participants were divided into intervention (n = 36) and control (n = 38) groups. The participant characteristics were ascertained using a questionnaire. The intervention effectiveness was assessed by measuring health-, physical activity-, and work-related outcomes. The results indicate that the intervention group significantly decreased their sitting time at work (p = 0.002) and had reduced neck and shoulder pain (p = 0.001). There was a significant increase in subjective health (p = 0.002), vitality in work-related engagement (p < 0.001), and self-rated work performance over a four-week period (p = 0.017). These findings indicate a significant difference between the two groups, demonstrating the effectiveness of a sit–stand desk in reducing sedentary behavior and improving workers’ health and productivity. Future research can accumulate further evidence of best practice use of sit–stand desks.

The purpose of this study is to identify regional differences in outdoor activity time and screen-viewing time of preschool children in urban and rural areas and to provide data on the environmental factors to identify modifiable determinants for each region. This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1772 out of 2790 children between the age of 3 to 6 years living in northern China, with their consent. A cross-sectional study was conducted among preschool children living in urban (n = 1114) and rural areas (n = 658) in northern China. To assess environmental factors, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was used for neighborhood environments, and the questionnaire included three items each for the physical home environment and socio-cultural environment domains. We observed the associations between outdoor play for urban children and sidewalks in the neighborhood, paths for cycles, aesthetic qualities, and “motor vehicles. In addition, in rural areas, screen-viewing time and environmental factors were found to be positively correlated with traffic, limited place and method of outdoor play, and were negatively correlated with the importance of academics and need for company in outdoor play. This has important implications for the development of effective intervention programs for preschool children in China in the future.

Kim HS, et al. J Prev Med Public Health. 2011 Jul;44(4):149-156. http://dx.doi.org/10.3961/jpmph.2011.44.4.149

Body fat mass (FM) has advantages over body mass index (BMI) in terms of accuracy of fitness assessment and health monitoring. However, the relationship between FM and fitness in Chinese children has not yet been well studied. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between health-related physical fitness, BMI, and FM, which was estimated using a predictive model among elementary schoolchildren in China. This cross-sectional study included 2677 participants (boys, 53.6%; girls, 46.4%) who underwent anthropometric measurements (height, weight, BMI, and FM) and five health-related fitness tests: 50-m sprint (speed), sit and reach (flexibility), timed rope-skipping (coordination), timed sit-ups (muscular endurance), and 50-m × 8 shuttle run (endurance). In boys, BMI showed a positive correlation with speed (p < 0.001) and endurance (p < 0.006) tests and a negative correlation with flexibility (p < 0.004) and coordination (p < 0.001) tests. In girls, a positive correlation between speed (p < 0.001) and endurance (p < 0.036) tests was observed. Both BMI and FM (estimated using the predictive model) were strongly associated with the health-related physical fitness of elementary schoolchildren. Our findings indicate that health-related physical fitness was similarly affected by FM and BMI. As FM can be quantified, it could therefore be used to develop strategies and intervention programs for the prevention and management of obesity in children.