Understanding movement behaviour time-use in youth from different socioeconomic backgrounds

Understanding the associations of movement behaviour time-use (i.e., physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep) and youth’s physical health, psychological health, and education-related outcomes has become increasingly popular in public health research.

However, little is known about the differences in movement behaviour time-use across youth from different socioeconomic positions and how these differences may affect specific outcomes. This thesis furthers our knowledge of movement behaviour time-use and socioeconomic position through three studies. In the first study, a systematic review, I found that the combination of “high” levels of physical activity and sleep with “low” sedentary behaviour provided children and adolescents are generally associated with the best outcomes. In the second study I aimed to identify general and domain-specific movement trajectory profiles and whether socioeconomic position could predict profile membership. For general movement behaviours, males from different socioeconomic positions did not differ in their movement trajectory profiles, but females from lower socioeconomic position were a combination of being less physically active and more sedentary than their higher socioeconomic peers. For domain-specific movement behaviours those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, regardless of sex, tended to spend a combination of more time in recreational screen activities and less time in education-related sedentary behaviour than their higher socioeconomic peers. In the final study I aimed to test if combinations of domain-specific movement behaviours mediated the relationship between socioeconomic position and socio- emotional outcomes in youth. Recreational screen activities had a mediating effect but combinations of domain-specific movement behaviours did not. These findings will help us better cater programs and guidelines to children from different socioeconomic backgrounds.