Health-Related Quality of Life in Relation to Health Behaviour Patterns among Canadian Children

Abstract

Poor health behaviours in childhood, including sedentary behaviour, low physical activity levels, inadequate sleep, and unhealthy diet, are established risk factors for both chronic diseases and mental illness. Scant studies have examined the importance of such health behaviour patterns for health-related quality of life (HRQoL). This study aimed to examine the association of health behaviour patterns with HRQoL among Canadian children. Data from 2866 grade five students were collected through a provincially representative school-based survey of the 2014 Raising Healthy Eating and Active Living Kids in Alberta study. Latent class analysis was used to identify health behaviour patterns based on 11 lifestyle behaviours: sedentary behaviour (using a computer, playing video games, watching TV), physical activity (with and without a coach), sleep (bedtime on weekdays and weekends), and diet (fruit and vegetables intake, grain products, milk and alternatives, meat and alternatives). Multivariable multilevel logistic regression was applied to examine the associations of health behaviour patterns with HRQoL. Three groupings with distinct health behaviour patterns were identified: the first grouping (55%) is characterized by relatively healthy levels of sedentary behaviour, physical activity, and sleep, but a less healthy diet (“activity-focused” group). The second grouping (24%) is characterized by a relatively healthy diet, but moderately healthy levels of sedentary behaviour, physical activity, and sleep (“diet-focused” group). The third grouping (21%) is characterized by mostly unhealthy behaviours (“not health-focused” group). Students in the third and second groupings (“not health-focused” and “diet-focused”) were more likely to report lower HRQoL relative to students in the first grouping (“activity-focused”). The findings suggest that health promotion strategies may be more effective when considering the patterns of health behaviours as distinct targets in the efforts to improve HRQoL. Future research should include prospective observational and intervention studies to further elucidate the relationship between health behaviour patterns and HRQoL among children.