title: Understanding the relationship between dog ownership and children's physical activity and sedentary behaviour.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Dog ownership is a catalyst for physical activity in adults. Given 50-70% of Australian households with children have a dog, dog-facilitated physical activity may be an effective way to increase physical activity and decrease child obesity.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We hypothesized that children with a family dog walk more, are more physically active and are more likely to achieve recommended levels of weekly physical activity compared with children who do not have a dog.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional data from the Western Australian TRravel, Environment, and Kids project (TREK) were analyzed for 1218 children aged 10-12 years. Individual and environment factors, child physical activity, walking, screen use, sedentary behaviour and dog ownership status was collected from child and parent questionnaires. Children's height and weight were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 60% of children had a family dog. Dog ownership was associated with, on average, 29 more minutes of walking and 142 more minutes of physical activity per week (P ≤ 0.01). After adjustment, children with a dog were 49% more likely to achieve the recommended level of weekly physical activity (420 min) and 32% more likely to have walked in their neighbourhood in the last week, compared with non-dog owners (P ≤ 0.05). These relationships varied by gender. Dog ownership was not associated with screen use or weight status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dog ownership was associated with walking and physical activity, but not screen use or weight status. Within dog-owning families, the promotion of walking and active play with a dog may be a strategy to increase children's physical activity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Built Environment and Health, School of Population Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Christian
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trapp
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lauritsen
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Giles-Corti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D010067:Ownership; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D057805:Pets; D010988:Play and Playthings; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016138:Walking