| Title: |
Objectively measured 24-h movement behaviours of child-guardian pairs in low-to-middle income households in Nairobi City County, Kenya |
| Authors: |
Wachira, Lucy-Joy; Swindell, Nils; Kanerva, Noora; Munuhe, Muhoro; Vuorimaa, Timo; Laiho, Tiina; Ochola, Sophie; Erkkola, Maijaliisa; Owino, George; Stratton, Gareth; Fogelholm, Mikael; Onywera, Vincent |
| Contributors: |
Department of Food and Nutrition; Teachers' Academy; Maijaliisa Erkkola / Principal Investigator; Nutrition, sustainability and wellbeing |
| Publisher Information: |
KeAi Publishing Communications Ltd. |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Helsingfors Universitet: HELDA – Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto |
| Subject Terms: |
Public health care science; environmental and occupational health; 24-h movement behaviour; Accelerometer; Adolescents; Parent; Physical activity; Socio-economic status |
| Description: |
Background: The decreasing prevalence of physical activity (PA) among urban children in Sub-Saharan Africa is a growing public health concern. More emphasis should focus on examining the influence of parental PA behaviour on the children's PA patterns. We explored associations of 24 hour (h) accelerometer-measured movement behaviours of guardian-child pairs in Nairobi City County, Kenya. Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed 80 pairs consisting of children aged 9-14 years and their guardians in one area of low and one area of middle socioeconomic status (SES) (Embakasi Sub-County and Lang'ata Sub-County), in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The study used waist worn Tri-axial Actigraph (GT3X+ and ActiSleep+) accelerometers to quantify PA and sedentary time (SED). Association between guardians' and children's PA was examined using linear regression, adjusting for guardians' educational attainment and household wealth. Results: Of the children, 42 (52.5%) and 76 (96.2%) of the guardians were women. Children in low SES areas spent more time (p < 0.001) in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared to children from middle SES area. The guardians in low SES area were younger and spent more time in light PA (p = 0.036) while their counterparts had higher daily SED (p = 0.049). Guardian's SED associated with higher children's SED (p = 0.033) even after adjusting for guardians' educational attainment (p = 0.032) and wealth (p = 0.05). There was no association between guardians' and children's MVPA. Conclusion: Considered alongside the extant literature, these results suggest that health promotion strategies should aim to reduce parental SED time while also planning to increase children's PA. ; Peer reviewed |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| File Description: |
application/pdf |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
The KENFIN-EDURA project was funded by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs through the Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation Instrument; grant no. HEL7M0453-82 (https:// www.oph . fi/en/programmes/hei-ici-programme) . We acknowledge and thank the project staff; Mr. Victor Odhiambo and Ms. Hanna Walsh who helped with the organisation and logistical work during data collection. We thank all research assistants involved during data collection. We also acknowledge the community health workers and volunteers who assisted in the recruitment and identi fi cation of the sampled households. We thank the county nutrition of fi ce and households that participated in the study.; https://hdl.handle.net/10138/627585; 001471720200001 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/10138/627585 |
| Rights: |
cc_by_nc_nd ; info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; openAccess |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.E5DE9905 |
| Database: |
BASE |