title: Adherence to active play and electronic media guidelines in preschool children: gender and parental education considerations.
abstract: The primary purpose of the present study was to examine adherence to current active play and electronic media use guidelines in a sample of US preschool-aged children and to examine whether differences occurred across gender and parental education. 164 parents completed an on-line survey to estimate preschool children's active play and sedentary behaviors. For weekdays, 50% of the sample met the active play guideline with this increasing to 65% during the weekend. With respect to electronic media use, 90% of the sample met guidelines during the week, with the percentage meeting guidelines dropping to 78% during the weekend. A greater percentage of preschool children from high parental education families (83.4 ± 3.3) met electronic media use guidelines on the weekends, compared to preschool children from low parental education families (59.4 ± 8.1) (p = 0.002). Our findings indicate that a substantial portion of preschool children are not meeting active play guidelines and that adherence to active play and electronic media use guidelines may be influenced by parental education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise Science, Lansing School of Nursing and Health Sciences, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY 40205, USA. ploprinzi@bellarmine.edu
authors.forename: Paul D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Loprinzi
authors.forename: David P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Schary
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Cardinal
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D010290:Parents; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television; D014481:United States; D018910:Video Games