JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Retrospective self-report questionnaires are the most common method for assessing physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior (SB) in children when the use of objective assessment methods (e.g., accelerometry) is cost-prohibitive. However, self-report measures have limitations (e.g., recall bias). The use of real-time, mobile ecological momentary assessment (EMA) have been proposed to address these shortcomings. Study findings will provide useful information for researchers interested in using EMA surveys for measuring PA and SB in children, particularly when reported by a parent/caregiver.

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between parent EMA-report of child PA and SB and accelerometer-measured sedentary time (ST), light intensity PA (LPA), and moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA), and whether these associations differed by day of week, sex, and season.

Methods:

One-hundred and forty children (aged 6.4±0.8; 47% girls; 15% African American, 17% American Indian, 18% Hispanic/Latino, 17% Hmong, 16% Somali, and 17% White; 48% overweight or obese) used a hip-mounted accelerometer for 8 days to measure ST, LPA and MVPA. This data was matched to the time period occurring before the parent EMA-report of child PA and SB. Generalized estimating equations with interaction-term analyses were performed to determine whether the relationship between parent EMA report of child PA and SB, and accelerometer-measured ST, LPA and MVPA outcomes differed by day of the week, sex and season.

Results:

Parent EMA report of child PA and SB was strongly associated with accelerometer-measured ST, LPA and MVPA. Parent EMA report of child PA was stronger during weekend than weekdays for accelerometer-measured ST (P =.002) and LPA (P=.001). For parent EMA report of child SB, strong associations were observed for accelerometer-measured ST (P=.001), LPA (P=.002) and MVPA (P=.005). Findings related to child sex indicated that the association between parent reported child PA via EMA and accelerometer-measured MVPA was stronger for boys than girls (P=.021). The association between parent EMA report of child SB and accelerometer-measured ST and LPA differed between boys and girls (P=.033 and P=.037, respectively). Season did not substantially change the association between parent EMA report of child PA and SB, and accelerometer measured ST and PA in this sample (all P>.1).

Conclusions:

When the use of accelerometry-based methods are not feasible and in contexts where the parent is able to spend more proximate time observing the child’s sedentary and PA behaviors, parent EMA-report might be a superior method for measuring PA and SB in children relative to self-report -given EMA’s strong associations with accelerometer-measured ST and PA.