Life on Holidays: How do changes in diet and activity during school term and the summer holidays relate to changes in fitness and fatness in school children?
Life on holidays: a 3 year longitudinal study tracking changes in South Australian primary school children's fitness and fatness during the in-school versus summer holiday period
University of South Australia
300 participants
Jun 13, 2018
Observational
Conditions
Summary
Emerging evidence suggests that children get leaner and fitter during the in-school period but become fatter and less fit over the summer holidays. This may occur because of differences in diet and use of time during the holiday period compared with the in-school period (e.g. children may be less active, eat more and have more screen time during the school holidays). However, few studies have tracked diet and use of time across the holiday period. Thus, the focus of the project is to track changes in fitness, fatness, diet and use of time of 9-11 year old children across 3 successive years, and compare rates of change between in-school and summer holiday periods. This study will also assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of diet and activity patterns with academic achievement. Findings from this project may inform new, potent avenues for intervention efforts aimed at addressing childhood fitness, fatness and academic achievement.
Eligibility
Plain Language Summary
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Interventions
This study will occur in 2 phases, an initial pilot phase followed by the main study. During the initial pilot phase 3 schools wil be recruited. This phase will be used to refine precedures for effective running of the main study, and be conducted over a shortened time period from June to November 2018. The main study will commence in at start of the 2019 school year (Jan/Feb). This study will explore changes in children's fitness and fatness during in-school and summer holiday periods over three successive years and relate these changes to changes in diet and activity patterns. This study will also assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of diet and activity patterns with academic achievement. Activity patterns will be assessed in school hours for beginning (Term 1) and end of year (Term 4) assessments, and via telephone for summer holiday assessments. Diet assessments will be administered outside of normal school hours. Assessments of diet and activity patterns will be conducted at the beginning and end of each school year (Term 1 and Term 4), and once during each summer holiday period (December/January). Activity patterns will be assessed using both objective and self-report measures. GENEActiv accelerometers will be used to provide an objective measure of time spent sleeping, sitting and in light-, moderate- and vigorous- intensity physical activity. These devices will be worn 24 hours/day for 7 consecutive days. The GENEActiv accelerometer has excellent convergent validity (r=0.98) when compared to other accelerometers, as well as good test-retest reliability (ICC=0.67–0.87). Data will be collected at 50 Hz and collapsed into 60-s epochs. The cutpoints identified by Phillips et al. will be used to identify time spent sedentary, and in each intensity of physical activity. Participants’ accelerometry data will be included in analyses if they wear the accelerometer for at least 10 waking hours, on at least three weekdays and one weekend day. The Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults (MARCA) will be used to provide a valid (r=0.4–0.7) and reliable (ICC=0.88–1.00) measure of time spent in specific types of activity. During one 30-minute computer-assisted telephone interview, participating children will recall every activity (e.g. sports, reading, household chores) they did over a 2-day period each time. Each activity is linked to a compendium of energy expenditures so that overall and activity-specific energy costs can be estimated. Dietary intake will be assessed using the Automated Self-Administered 24-hour Dietary Assessment Tool (ASA24), Australian version (2016), developed by the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States. This is an online tool for collecting 24-hour dietary recall data. The ASA24 will be interviewer administered. At each study time point, parents/carers will complete the ASA24 on one occasion (~30 minutes/recall). The Australian Food Supplement and Nutrient Database (AUSNUT) 2011 will be used to estimate food group intake, energy and nutrient intake. Usual energy and macronutrient intake will be derived using the web-based statistical modelling technique Multiple Source Method.
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ACTRN12618002008202