The aim of the current study was to examine the associations between physical activity, mobile phone addiction, and irrational procrastination after adjustment for potential confounding variables. The participants were 6294 first- and second-year students recruited as a cluster sample from three public universities in Shanghai, China. Physical activity, mobile phone use, and irrational procrastination were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), the mobile phone addiction index scale (MPAI), and the irrational procrastination scale (IPS). The participants were divided into four groups according to their mobile phone usage status and physical activity level. The binary logistic regression model was used to predict the probability of serious irrational procrastination among different groups. The emergence of serious of irrational procrastination under physical activity of different intensity and different mobile phone addiction statuses was predicted by a multiple linear regression model. In this study, the combination of insufficient physical activity and mobile phone addiction is positively associated with high levels of irrational procrastination. Furthermore, students who exhibited both mobile phone addiction behaviors and insufficient physical activity tended to have significantly higher odds of reporting high levels of irrational procrastination than those students who exhibited one behavior or neither behavior. After adjusting for the effects of age, BMI, tobacco, alcohol use, and sedentary time, the result is consistent with previous outcomes. These findings suggest that intervention efforts should focus on the promotion of physical activity and reduction of mobile phone addiction.

Background: While physical activity has been reported to positively affect stress and sleep quality, less is known about the potential relationships among them. The present study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of stress on the association between physical activity and sleep quality in Chinese college students, after controlling for age, nationality, and tobacco and alcohol use. Participants: The sample comprised 6973 college students representing three Chinese universities. Methods: Physical activity, perceived stress, and sleep quality were respectively measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire—Short Form (IPAQ-SF), Perceived Stress Scale—10 Items (PSS-10), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Results: Mediating effects of perceived stress on the association between physical activity and sleep quality were observed in males and females, with 42.4% (partial mediating effect) and 306.3% (complete mediating effect) as percentages of mediation, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study may provide some suggestions that physical activity could improve sleep by aiding individuals in coping with stress and indicate that stress management might be an effective non-pharmaceutical therapy for sleep improvement.

This study aimed to examine the levels of physical activity (PA) among children and adolescents in western China, and the influence of parents on their PA, in the era of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This cross-sectional study used a multistage questionnaire to evaluate 4800 children and adolescents of grades 4–12 (9–17 years old) from 48 primary and secondary schools across 16 districts and counties in western China. In addition to PA, questionnaires collected data on demography, family structure, and exercise habits. Data were assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF) and analyzed using chi-square tests, t-tests, Spearman’s correlation, and logistic regression models in SPSS. In this study, a minority (42.1%, n = 1553) of children and adolescents met the daily exercise target (60 min) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) level of boys was significantly higher than that of girls. Regardless of sex, children with the highest MVPA levels were those in grades 4–6, and PA levels decreased with increasing age. Furthermore, for every hour of increase in the daily MVPA of parents, the MVPA also increased by 6.1–13.9 min in children and adolescents. Moreover, areas of higher economic development were associated with lower levels of MVPA. Overall, this study found a low level of MVPA in children and adolescents of western China; both family structure and parental activity have a significant influence on the children's PA levels. Besides, the impact of COVID-19 on PA levels has not been entirely negative.

Previous studies suggest that total screen time does not comprehensively predict health behavior. The effects on health behaviors vary by app type. This st

Background Previous studies suggest that total screen time does not comprehensively predict health behavior. The effects on health behaviors vary by app type. This study examines the association of different app categories (social, entertainment, game, education) related to physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) patterns among university students. Methods This study followed 345 university students aged 18–22 for 7 days. Physical activity (PA), and sedentary behavior (SB) were objectively measured using the ActiGraph GT3X-BT accelerometer. Smartphone app usage was tracked via objective daily survey logs. After the 7-day tracking period, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather detailed information on app usage and physical activity. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 26.0 and R software. Results In 248 participants (139 males, 109 females), Males had higher daily energy expenditure and more sedentary time (ST) compared to females, who spent more time in light-intensity physical activity (LPA) but less in vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA). Males showed a positive correlation between entertainment app usage and ST (r = 0.271, p = 0.017) and a negative correlation with sedentary interval (SI) (r = -0.266, p = 0.019). In females, social app usage correlated with increased LPA (r = 0.321, p < 0.001) and VPA was positively correlated with screen time (ST) (r = 0.195, p = 0.042). App usage also influenced SB patterns, particularly in active individuals. After controlling for confounding factors, gaming app usage in males who inactive decreased LPA (0.341 min, p = 0.036). In females, social app usage increased LPA (0.112 min, p = 0.018) but decreased VPA (0.012 min, p = 0.011) in those who inactive. ST was linked to an increase in ST and to a decrease in SI time in both genders. Conclusions Implementation of digital health interventions should be content-specific and take into account application type, gender and active status to promote sustainable active lifestyles that go beyond traditional strategies to reduce screen time.