Prevalence and correlates of compliance with 24-h movement guidelines among children from urban and rural Kenya-The Kenya-LINX project

• Published in: PloS one 2022-12, Vol.17 (12), p.e0279751
• Main Authors: Swindell, Nils, Wachira, Lucy-Joy, Okoth, Victor, Kagunda, Stanley, Owino, George, Ochola, Sophie, Brophy, Sinead, Summers, Huw, Richards, Amie, Fairclough, Stuart J, Onywera, Vincent, Stratton, Gareth
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accelerometers; Balance; Behavior; Biology and Life Sciences; Body mass index; Child; Children; Children & youth; Correlation; Cross-Sectional Studies; Earth Sciences; Exercise; Female; Guidelines; Health aspects; Health care; Humans; Kenya; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Obesity; Overweight; People and Places; Physical activity; Physical education; Physical fitness; Prevalence; Rural areas; Schools; Screen time; Sedentary Behavior; Sleep; Social Sciences; Swimming; Task forces; Teenagers; Type 2 diabetes; Urban areas; Urbanization; Wrist
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279751

Like many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya has experienced rapid urbanization in recent years. Despite the distinct socioeconomic and environmental differences, few studies have examined the adherence to movement guidelines in urban and rural areas. This cross-sectional study aimed at examining compliance to the 24-hour movement guidelines and their correlates among children from urban and rural Kenya. Children (n = 539) aged 11.1 ± 0.8 years (52% female) were recruited from 8 urban and 8 rural private and public schools in Kenya. Physical activity (PA) and sleep duration were estimated using 24-h raw data from wrist-worn accelerometers. Screen time (ST) and potential correlates were self- reported. Multi-level logistic regression was applied to identify correlates of adherence to combined and individual movement guidelines. Compliance with the combined movement guidelines was low overall (7%), and higher among rural (10%) than urban (5%) children. Seventy-six percent of rural children met the individual PA guidelines compared to 60% urban children while more rural children also met sleep guidelines (27% vs 14%). The odds of meeting the combined movement guidelines reduced with age (OR = 0.55, 95% CI = 0.35-0.87, p = 0.01), was greater among those who could swim (OR = 3.27, 95% CI = 1.09-9.83, p = 0.04), and among those who did not engage in ST before school (OR = 4.40, 95% CI = 1.81-10.68, p