Measuring eating habits and physical activity in children: Synthesis of information using indexes and clusters / Medición de hábitos saludables y no saludables en niños: Síntesis de la información utilizando indicadores y conglomerados

Abstract

Assessing healthy habits related to child overweight and obesity is important concerning the prevention efforts. A variety of measures to assess eating habits and physical activity are available, being the self-report frequency questionnaires the most common and cost-efficient. Nevertheless, those questionnaires generate a large amount of data. Considering this, the purpose of the study was to develop a proposal to synthesize information from the Child Overweight/Obesity Healthy related Habits Questionnaire (CHS-SO), through the creation of indexes and a combination of a factorial method and cluster analysis. Nine indexes were created to assess eating habits, physical activity, and digital entertainment use, allowing to classify children into healthy or unhealthy in each index. The CHS-SO was administered to 239 children between 8 and 12 years old from Cali, Colombia. Data obtained from the indexes were analyzed using a multiple correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. Results show that most of the children have healthy eating habits, physical activity was lower in girls and digital entertainment use was high.Resumen Evaluar los hábitos de salud relacionados con el sobrepeso y la obesidad infantil resulta fundamental para la prevención de estas problemáticas. Existe una amplia variedad de instrumentos para medir dichos hábitos, siendo más comunes y costo-eficientes los cuestionarios de autorreporte, sin embargo estos generan información demasiado extensa y difícil de analizar. Por tanto, este estudio tuvo como objetivo desarrollar una propuesta de síntesis de la información obtenida del Cuestionario de Hábitos de Salud relacionados con el Sobrepeso/Obesidad Infantil (CHS-SO), a partir de la construcción de indicadores de hábitos de alimentación, de actividad física y de consumo de entretenimiento digital que permitan clasificar a los niños como saludables o no saludables. Participaron 239 niños y niñas de 8 a 12 años de edad, quienes completaron el CHS-SO. La combinación del análisis de correspondencias múltiples con el de conglomerados arrojó dos clústers. Los hábitos de alimentación fueron saludables en la mayoría de los niños, sin embargo fueron identificadas diferencias en función del sexo y el nivel socioeconómico. Por el contrario, los dos hábitos menos saludables fueron el comer mientras se emplean dispositivos de entretenimiento digital y el tiempo destinado a estos últimos.

Interventions based on environmental determinants for nutritional and physical activity behaviours in Colombia: a scoping review

“…Finally, two programmes with a strategy for nutrition and PA at the school level encourage a balanced diet and the development of school PA programmes. 73 91 More details are in table 3 .…”

“…Additionally, five studies were identified by cross-referencing. Finally, 70 scientific articles were included 52–124. All these document and articles were related to 13 initiatives on physical and social environmental modifications, 7 in the area of PA and 6 with a nutrition focus (online supplemental files 2; 3).…”

“…Another programme from the Colombia Department of Sports (Coldeportes) focuses on the promotion of healthy habits and lifestyles with an emphasis on healthy eating and the regular practice of PA. Finally, two programmes with a strategy for nutrition and PA at the school level encourage a balanced diet and the development of school PA programmes 73 91. More details are in table 3.…”

Healthy Life Habits in Caregivers of Children in Vulnerable Populations: A Cluster Analysis

“…Likewise, Varela Arévalo et al [53] identified two HLH profiles in Colombian schoolchildren aged eight to twelve years based on their dietary habits, digital entertainment consumption, and physical activity. A first cluster was characterized by low physical activity, while the second cluster grouped children with high digital entertainment consumption [53].…”

“…Multiple sociodemographic aspects, such as income level, gender and age of the child, and area of residence can have a significant effect on healthy living habits. Children from disadvantaged schools and lower-income families tend to have unhealthy eating habits compared to children from high-income schools and families [5,36,38,[52][53][54][55]. Likewise, children who grow up with one or neither parent tend to report fewer positive attitudes toward healthy habits, as well as behaviors such as smoking, drug use, violence, low physical exercise, and diet of poor nutritional quality compared to those who grow up under the care of both parents [56].…”