Brief report: Changes in parent-adolescent joint activities between 2002 and 2014 in the Czech Republic, Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study

The relationship between behavioral problems and screen time in children during COVID-19 school closures in Japan

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The Role of Family Time Together in Meeting the Recommendation for Physical Activity among Primary School Children

Family time may have an influence on children’s physical activity (PA) participation or may contribute to increased sedentary behaviour. The aim of this paper was to examine whether spending family time is associated with the PA of children aged 10–11. Cross-sectional data on 158 primary school children (80 girls and 78 boys) with a mean age of 10.6 ± 0.49 years were collected. Weight and height were used to calculate body mass index. The level of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was determined with a physical activity screening measure. Participants wore a Vivofit^® wrist band activity tracker to measure their daily number of steps. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children questionnaire was used to obtain information from children about the frequency of activities undertaken by the family. Analyses entailed descriptive statistics of the total sample and by gender, t-test, and the Mann–Whitney U-test to examine the gender differences and Spearman’s correlation coefficients. It was found that 32.3% of the children did not accomplish at least 60 min per day on ≥5 of the seven days and more than 75.9% of them did not accumulate at least 12,000 or more steps daily. More boys than girls tended to be sufficiently active and met the guideline of at least 60 min per day on ≥5 of the seven days (70.5% and 65.0%, respectively) or 12,000 steps per day (25.8% and 10.0%, respectively). The number of steps during the weekday was significantly and inversely associated both in girls and in boys with active family time (r = −0.27 and r = −0.25, respectively), and with total family time (r = −0.28) and non-active family time (r = −0.25) only in boys. Average MVPA was also inversely correlated with active family time (r = −0.31), non-active family time (r = −0.24), and total family time (r = −0.29) in boys. The correlation effect size values ranged between small to medium significant differences for these measures. The findings underscore the need for community-based PA programmes designed for whole families to meet the recommended PA of children and also to develop and promote active leisure activities among families.

Methodological Aspects of Trend Studies and Development of the HBSC Study in the Czech Republic

The aim of the study is to present the theoretical background of trend studies in general, to characterize the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study and to describe its methodology and changes of the Czech HBSC study between 1994 and 2014. The first part describes various types of trend research studies including their advantages and disadvantages. The second part summarizes the history of the HBSC study in an international context and particularly in the Czech Republic. The final part presents the basic methodological data from six surveys conducted in the Czech Republic between 1994 and 2014.

Do family environment factors play a role in adolescents' involvement in organized activities?

The study assessed the association of family environment factors with adolescents' participation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA). We used data on 10,472 Czech adolescents aged 11-15 years (49.2% boys) from the 2013/2014 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. The associations of family support, the presence of parental screen-time rules and joint family activities with participation in at least one OLTA were assessed using logistic regression. High family support and the presence of parental screen-time rules were associated with higher odds of OLTA participation. Moreover, adolescents playing sports, indoor games and going for walks with their families at least weekly were more likely to participate in OLTA. Conversely, those spending time in joint family TV/video watching on most days were less likely to do so. A supportive family environment and direct parental involvement in their adolescent children's leisure are associated with OLTA participation in early to middle adolescence.