Poster Presentation Australian & New Zealand Obesity Society Annual Scientific Meeting 2013

Fatness and use of time and health-related quality of life in 10-13 year old Australian children. (#167)

Michelle G Samaras 1 , Alison Coates 1 , Timothy Olds 1 , Peter Howe 1 , Jeff Walkley 2 , Andrew Hills 3 , Margarita Tsiros 1
  1. Health and use of time , UniSA, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  2. RMIT, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. QUT, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Background: Relatively few studies have addressed the determinants and correlates of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in healthy children. Weight status has been consistently reported as being inversely related to HRQOL1 , while associations with physical activity, sleep and screen time have been less consistent2 3 4 5 6 7. The aim of this study was to determine the univariate and multivariate associations between various aspects of time use, socio-demographics and health-related quality of life in a sample of obese and healthy-weight children.

Methods: This study involved 239 obese and healthy-weight Australian children aged 10 to 13 year olds. HRQoL was quantified using the Pediatric Quality of Life Survey (PedsQL). Body fat was measured using DXA. Time use was measured using the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adolescents (MARCA), a validated 24 h recall tool. Time use included physical activity (divided into sport, active transport and play), screen time (divided into television, videogames and computer use), and sleep (duration, bedtime and wake time). Analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares regression, with age, percentage body fat, Tanner stage, household income, and use of time as the independent variables, and PedsQL total and subscale scores as the dependent variables. Analyses were stratified by gender.

Results:  For boys, body fat percentage (negative), videogames (negative), sport (positive) and Tanner stage (positive) were associated with HRQOL. For girls, body fat percentage (negative), TV (negative), sport (positive), and household income (positive) were significantly associated with HRQOL.  

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