A pioneering strategy to combat sedentary behavior among children in China has proven effective, according to a new study.
The study, led by the University of Bristol, found that recently introduced regulations by the Chinese government to reduce sedentary behavior among schoolchildren have led to restrictions on online gaming companies targeting this age group, and the amount of homework school teachers can assign. It has become clear that the school is restricting the number of students attending classes, and reducing class hours for private tuition programs. The ability to provide lessons can significantly reduce total sedentary time and time spent on various sedentary activities. Overall, this measure reduced his daily sedentary time by 13.8%. This equates to a decrease of more than 3 hours per day for her to spend in this physically inactive mode of 45 minutes.
The findings, published today in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, have important implications for future policies and interventions aimed at improving children's physical and mental health globally.
“These results are interesting because this type of regulatory intervention across multiple settings has never been attempted before,” said lead author Dr Bai Li, from the Center for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences at the university's Graduate School of Policy Studies. Traditionally, children and health science have believed that their parents and caregivers have been educated and encouraged to change their behavior, but this has not really worked.
“These regulatory measures have shifted the responsibility for compliance to online gaming companies, schools, and tutoring companies. This completely different approach appears to be more effective because it is important for children and adolescents to Our goal is to improve the environment and support a healthier lifestyle. ”
A team of British and Chinese researchers analyzed individually matched surveillance data collected from more than 7,000 primary and secondary school students in 2020 and 2021, before and after the introduction of the restrictions. Participants were recruited from 31 urban or rural areas across her 14 cities in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China.
During this period, statistics show that the average daily amount of time students spend sedentary decreased by 46 minutes. This trend was particularly pronounced for urban students compared to rural students. Average daily screen time, which includes using a mobile phone, handheld game console, tablet, television, game console connected to the TV, or computer, decreased by 6.4% (10 minutes).
It also showed that students were 20% more likely to meet the daily screen time recommendation of less than two hours, which applies in the UK and US, after the regulations came into force.
The findings revealed that students overall were almost three times (2.8) times more likely to meet the Chinese government's recommendations on the maximum amount of time to spend on homework. This likelihood decreased with age, from 3.6 times for elementary school students to 2.1 times for middle school students.
Dr Lee, who directs the Master of Science (MSc) program in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health, said: “Our findings show that government regulations have been effective in reducing sedentary behavior among children and young people in this region of China. “This certainly suggests that it may be helpful. Further research is needed.” It is necessary to assess whether such interventions would have similar effects in other regions of China and internationally. ”
Professor Boyd Swinburne is Professor of Global Health at the University of Auckland, Co-Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Obesity Prevention at Deakin University, Melbourne, and former Co-Chair of the World Obesity Federation (WOF) Policy. There is also. The Department of Prevention said: “This is an interesting study as most interventions to reduce sedentary behavior rely on educational approaches rather than the regulatory measures used here.”
“While similar regulations may be difficult to achieve in countries outside of China, the impact of the regulations shows how sensitive sedentary behavior is to prevailing environmental conditions and regulations. .”
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