Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 48, Issue 2, February 2009, Pages 151-155
Preventive Medicine

The prevalence of sedentary behavior and physical activity in leisure time: A study of Scottish adolescents using ecological momentary assessment

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2008.10.025Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To report time and prevalence of leisure time sedentary and active behaviors in adolescents.

Method

Cross-sectional, stratified, random sample from schools in 14 districts in Scotland, 2002–03, using ecological momentary assessment (n = 385 boys, 606 girls; mean age 14.1 years; range 12.6–16.7 years). This is a method of capturing current behavioral episodes. We used 15 min time intervals.

Results

Television viewing occupied the most leisure time. The five most time consuming sedentary activities occupied 228 min per weekday and 396 min per weekend day for boys, and 244 min per weekday and 400 min per weekend day for girls, with TV occupying one-third to one-half of this time. In contrast, 62 min was occupied by active transport and sports/exercise per weekday and 91 min per weekend day for boys, with 55 min per weekday and 47 min per weekend day for girls. A minority watched more than 4 h of TV per day, with more at weekends. Other main sedentary behaviors for boys were homework, playing computer/video games, and motorised transport and, for girls, homework, motorised transport, and sitting and talking.

Conclusion

Scottish adolescents engage in a variety of sedentary and active behaviors. Research into sedentary behavior must assess multiple behaviors and not rely solely on TV viewing.

Introduction

Interest in the study of sedentary behaviors is still quite new yet is expanding rapidly. In the past, ‘sedentary behavior’ was usually operationalized in research with reference to not meeting a criterion level of physical activity requires addition of (PA). However, it is now recognized that sedentary behaviors may be relatively independent of physical activity. In a sample of 2210 Australian adults, for example, Sugiyama et al. (2008) classified 22% as having high levels of leisure-time sedentary behavior yet also having ‘sufficient’ levels of leisure-time PA (based on guidelines). Moreover, there was an elevated likelihood of being overweight or obese in those who were sufficiently active but who had high levels of sedentary behavior, particularly in women. It is also likely that the determinants, or correlates, or sedentary behavior will be different from those for physical activity, although more data are required (Gorely et al., 2004, Sallis et al., 2000).

Some young people find exercise or physical activity uninteresting or even aversive and choose sedentary pastimes instead, many of which might be highly appealing. However, research shows that physical activity is often unrelated to how much time young people spend watching television (TV) across the day (Marshall et al., 2004, Sallis et al., 2000), and there is even evidence showing very low associations, from mainly cross-sectional work, between TV viewing and body fatness in youth (Marshall et al., 2004). Despite commonly held assumptions regarding sedentary behavior (usually TV viewing), the lifestyle patterns of young people are likely to be complex and involve numerous active and sedentary pursuits throughout the school day and weekend. Better documentation of these patterns is required.

Inactive lifestyles have typically focussed on highly visible and prevalent sedentary pursuits such as technology-based behaviors (e.g., television viewing and other screen based media, such as use of computers for online shopping, recreation, or games, and hand-held computer game consoles). This approach is not optimal for improving our understanding of patterns of behavior. Investigating single behaviors fails to capture the diversity of sedentarianism. The purpose of this research, therefore, was to describe the leisure time active and sedentary behaviors of adolescents in Scotland to better understand the complexity of such behaviors prior to designing interventions that might target reductions in sedentary behavior and increases in physical activity. While data are available on physical activity levels of young people, no comprehensive data on sedentary behaviors of Scottish youth have been published.

Section snippets

Sampling design

Schools were randomly selected from 14 local education authorities (LEAs) in Scotland. Those agreeing to take part were sent 90 diaries. In Phase 1 (October–November 2002), one class from each of the Year Groups 9 (‘grade’; age 13–14 years), 10, and 11 was chosen at random by a co-ordinator at the school and each student was given a diary to complete in their free-time. Schools were offered the incentive of one UK pound for the return of each completed diary.

To assess for seasonal variations, a

Average time spent in sedentary and active behaviors: boys

Table 1 shows the mean minutes spent in each of the behaviors for boys. TV viewing occupied the most leisure time. After TV viewing the four most time consuming sedentary weekday activities were homework, playing computer/video games, motorised transport, and behavioral hobbies (e.g., playing musical instruments). These five activities occupied on average 228 min (3.8 h) per weekday. In contrast, 62 min was occupied by active transport and sports/exercise. At weekends, the four sedentary

Discussion

The purpose of this research was to describe the leisure time active and sedentary behaviors of adolescents in Scotland. The present study documents extensive data on the prevalence of such behaviors. Results show that adolescents watch, on average, just below 2 h of television on weekdays and just over 2 1/2 h on weekend days. However, with such large variability, it is prudent to look at prevalence rates. While some boys will watch what might be considered excessive amounts of TV on a

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no competing interests.

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the financial support of The British Heart Foundation (Grant PG/2000124), NHS Health Scotland, and Masterfoods, Inc.

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