BACKGROUND: Early childhood is important for cognitive and social-emotional development, and a time in which to promote healthy movement behaviors (sedentary behavior, physical activity, and sleep). Movement behaviors may have interactive influences on cognition and social-emotional factors in young children, but most previous research has explored them independently. The purpose of this study was to determine if movement behaviors are associated with measures of cognitive and social-emotional health in young children and if so, to describe optimal compositions of movement behaviors of a daily cycle for such outcomes. METHODS: Children (n = 388, 33 to 70 months, 44.6% female) from a clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03285880, first posted September 18, 2017) wore accelerometers on their wrists for 24-h for 9.56 ± 3.3 days. Movement behavior compositions consisted of time spent in sedentary behaviors, light intensity physical activity, moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA), and sleep. Outcomes were cognitive (receptive vocabulary, declarative and procedural memory, and executive attention) and social-emotional measures (temperament and behavioral problems). Compositional linear regression models with isometric log ratios were used to investigate the relations between the movement behavior composition and the cognitive and social-emotional health measures. If a significant association was found between the composition and an outcome, we further explored the "optimal" 24-h time-use for said outcome. RESULTS: Movement behavior compositions were associated with receptive vocabulary. The composition associated with the predicted top five percent of vocabulary scores consisted of 12.1 h of sleep, 4.7 h of sedentary time, 5.6 h of light physical activity, and 1.7 h of MVPA. CONCLUSIONS: While behavior compositions are related to vocabulary ability in early childhood, our findings align with the inconclusiveness of the current evidence regarding other developmental outcomes. Future research exploring activities within these four movement behaviors, that are meaningful to cognitive and social-emotional development, may be warranted. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s44167-023-00016-6.

Department of Physical Education and Sport Sciences University of Limerick Limerick Ireland

Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences University of Massachusetts Amherst 135 Hicks Way Tobin Hall Amherst MA 01003 USA

Department of Psychology Assumption College Worcester MA USA

Department of Psychology Merrimack College North Andover MA USA

Department of Public Health and Nursing Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway

Faculty of Physical Culture Palacký University Olomouc Olomouc Czech Republic

Institute for Applied Life Sciences University of Massachusetts Amherst Amherst MA USA

Sensing Perception and Applied Robotics Division Charles River Analytics Cambridge MA USA

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Paruthi S, Brooks LJ, D’Ambrosio C, Hall WA, Kotagal S, Lloyd RM, et al. Recommended amount of sleep for pediatric populations: a consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. J Clin Sleep Med. 2016;12(6):785–6. PubMed PMC

Committee 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory. 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report To the Secretary of Health and Human [Internet]. 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Scientific Report. To the Secretary of Health and Human Service. Washington, DC: U.S.; 2018. https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/report/pdf/PAG_Advisory_Committee_Report.pdf

Philippe CJ, Gray CE, Poitras VJ, Carson V, Gruber R, Olds T, et al. Systematic review of the relationships between sleep duration and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2016;41(June):S265-282. PubMed

Kuzik N, Poitras VJ, Tremblay MS, Lee EY, Hunter S, Carson V. Systematic review of the relationships between combinations of movement behaviours and health indicators in the early years (0–4 years). BMC Public Health. 2017;17(Suppl 5):849–61. PubMed PMC

Willumsen J, Bull F. Development of WHO guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep for children less than 5 years of age. J Phys Act Health. 2020;17(1):96–100. PubMed

Pate RR, O’Neill JR, Brown WH, Pfeiffer KA, Dowda M, Addy CL. Prevalence of compliance with a new physical activity guideline for preschool-age children. Child Obes. 2015;11(4):415–20. PubMed PMC

Hnatiuk JA, Salmon J, Hinkley T, Okely AD, Trost S. A review of preschool children’s physical activity and sedentary time using objective measures. Am J Prev Med. 2014;47(4):487–97. PubMed

Jones RA, Hinkley T, Okely AD, Salmon J. Tracking physical activity and sedentary behavior in childhood: a systematic review. Am J Prev Med. 2013;44(6):651–8. 10.1016/j.amepre.2013.03.001. PubMed

Dregan A, Armstrong D. Adolescence sleep disturbances as predictors of adulthood sleep disturbances-a cohort study. J Adolesc Health. 2010;46(5):482–7. 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.11.197. PubMed

Telama R, Yang X, Viikari J, Välimäki I, Wanne O, Raitakari O. Physical activity from childhood to adulthood: a 21-year tracking study. Am J Prev Med. 2005;28(3):267–73. PubMed

Lenroot RK, Giedd JN. Brain development in children and adolescents: insights from anatomical magnetic resonance imaging. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2006;30(6):718–29. PubMed

Goldman-Rakic PS. Development of cortical circuitry and cognitive function. Child Dev. 1987;58(3):601–22. PubMed

Alloway TP, Alloway RG. Investigating the predictive roles of working memory and IQ in academic attainment. J Exp Child Psychol. 2010;106(1):20–9. 10.1016/j.jecp.2009.11.003. PubMed

Blair C, Razza RP. Relating effortful control, executive function, and false belief understanding to emerging math and literacy ability in kindergarten. Child Dev. 2007;78(2):647–63. PubMed

Harvey PD. Domains of cognition and their assessment. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2019;21(3):227–37. PubMed PMC

Desrochers P, Kurdziel LBF, Spencer RMC. Delayed benefit of naps on motor learning in preschool children. Exp Brain Res. 2016;234(3):763–72. PubMed PMC

Kurdziel L, Duclos K, Spencer RMC. Sleep spindles in midday naps enhance learning in preschool children. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2013;110(43):17267–72. PubMed PMC

Garon N, Bryson SE, Smith IM. Executive function in preschoolers: a review using an integrative framework. Psychol Bull. 2008;134(1):31–60. PubMed

Cremone A, McDermott JM, Spencer RMC. Naps enhance executive attention in preschool-aged children. J Pediatr Psychol. 2017;42(8):837–45. PubMed PMC

Qin S, Leong RLF, Ong JL, Chee MWL. Associations between objectively measured sleep parameters and cognition in healthy older adults: a meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2022;12(67):101734. PubMed

Dillon K, Morava A, Prapavessis H, Grigsby-Duffy L, Novic A, Gardiner PA. Total Sedentary Time and Cognitive Function in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Vol. 8, Sports Medicine - Open. Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH; 2022. PubMed PMC

St. Laurent CW, Burkart S, Andre C, Spencer RMC. Physical activity, fitness, school readiness, and cognition in early childhood: a systematic review. J Phys Act Health. 2021;18(8):1004–13. PubMed PMC

Carson V, Hunter S, Kuzik N, Wiebe SA, Spence JC, Friedman A, et al. Systematic review of physical activity and cognitive development in early childhood. J Sci Med Sport. 2016;19(7):573–8. 10.1016/j.jsams.2015.07.011. PubMed

Zeng N, Ayyub M, Sun H, Wen X, Xiang P, Gao Z. Effects of physical activity on motor skills and cognitive development in early childhood: a systematic review. Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:2760716. PubMed PMC

Mason GM, Lokhandwala S, Riggins T, Spencer RMC. Sleep and human cognitive development. Sleep Med Rev. 2021;57:101472. 10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101472. PubMed PMC

Lam JC, Mahone EM, Mason T, Scharf SM. The effects of napping on cognitive function in preschoolers. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2011;32(2):90–7. PubMed PMC

Vaughn BE, Elmore-Staton L, Shin N, El-Sheikh M. Sleep as a support for social competence, peer relations, and cognitive functioning in preschool children. Behav Sleep Med. 2015;13(2):92–106. PubMed

Wilhelm I, Prehn-Kristensen A, Born J. Sleep-dependent memory consolidation—what can be learnt from children? Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2012;36(7):1718–28. 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.03.002. PubMed

Poitras VJ, Gray CE, Janssen X, Aubert S, Carson V, Faulkner G, et al. Systematic review of the relationships between sedentary behaviour and health indicators in the early years (0–4 years). BMC Public Health. 2017;17(Suppl 5):65–89. PubMed PMC

Chaput JP, Gray CE, Poitras VJ, Carson V, Gruber R, Birken CS, et al. Systematic review of the relationships between sleep duration and health indicators in the early years (0–4 years). BMC Public Health. 2017;17(Suppl 5):91–107. PubMed PMC

Carson V, Lee EY, Hewitt L, Jennings C, Hunter S, Kuzik N, et al. Systematic review of the relationships between physical activity and health indicators in the early years (0–4 years). BMC Public Health. 2017;17(Suppl 5):33–63. PubMed PMC

Rothbart MK, Derryberry D. Development of individual differences in temperament. Adv Dev Psychol. 1981;1:37–86.

Putnam SP, Rothbart MK. Development of short and very short forms of the children’s behavior questionnaire. J Pers Assess. 2006;87(1):102–12. PubMed

Poulou MS. Emotional and behavioural difficulties in preschool. J Child Fam Stud. 2015;24(2):225–36.

Sampasa-Kanyinga H, Sampasa-Kanyinga H, Colman I, Colman I, Goldfield GS, Goldfield GS, et al. Combinations of physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep duration and their associations with depressive symptoms and other mental health problems in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Activity. 2020;17:1–6. PubMed PMC

Lubans D, Richards J, Hillman C, Faulkner G, Beauchamp M, Nilsson M, et al. Physical activity for cognitive and mental health in youth: a systematic review of mechanisms. Pediatrics. 2016;138(3):e20161642. PubMed

Janssen X, Martin A, Hughes AR, Hill CM, Kotronoulas G, Hesketh KR. Associations of screen time, sedentary time and physical activity with sleep in under 5s: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2020;49:101226. PubMed PMC

St. Laurent CW, Spencer RMC. A systematic review of the relationships between physical activity and sleep in youth. Ann Behav Med. 2020;54(Supplement 1):C312.

Carson V, Ezeugwu VE, Tamana SK, Chikuma J, Lefebvre DL, Azad MB, et al. Associations between meeting the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the early years and behavioral and emotional problems among 3-year-olds. J Sci Med Sport. 2019;22(7):797–802. PubMed

Cliff DP, McNeill J, Vella SA, Howard SJ, Santos R, Batterham M, et al. Adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines for the early years and associations with social-cognitive development among Australian preschool children. BMC Public Health. 2017;17(Suppl 5):207–15. PubMed PMC

McNeill J, Howard SJ, Vella SA, Cliff DP. Compliance with the 24-Hour movement guidelines for the early years: cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with executive function and psychosocial health in preschool children. J Sci Med Sport. 2020;23(9):846–53. PubMed

Hinkley T, Timperio A, Watson A, Duckham RL, Okely AD, Cliff D, et al. Prospective associations with physiological, psychosocial and educational outcomes of meeting Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2020;17(1):1–12. PubMed PMC

Rosenberger ME, Fulton JE, Buman MP, Troiano RP, Grandner MA, Buchner DM, et al. The 24-hour activity cycle: a new paradigm for physical activity. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019;51(3):454–64. PubMed PMC

Chastin SFM, Palarea-Albaladejo J, Dontje ML, Skelton DA. Combined effects of time spent in physical activity, sedentary behaviors and sleep on obesity and cardio-metabolic health markers: a novel compositional data analysis approach. PLoS ONE. 2015;10(10):e0139984. PubMed PMC

Pedišić Ž, Dumuid D, Olds TS. Integrating sleep, sedentary behaviour, and physical activity research in the emerging field of time-use epidemiology: definitions, concepts, statistical methods, theoretical framework, and future directions. Kinesiology. 2017;49(2):252–69.

Dumuid D, Stanford TE, Pedišić Ž, Maher C, Lewis LK, Martín-Fernández JA, et al. Adiposity and the isotemporal substitution of physical activity, sedentary time and sleep among school-aged children: a compositional data analysis approach. BMC Public Health. 2018;18(1):1–11. PubMed PMC

Bezerra TA, Clark CCT, de Souza Filho AN, de Souza FL, Silva Mota JAP, Duncan MJ, et al. 24-hour movement behaviour and executive function in preschoolers: a compositional and isotemporal reallocation analysis. Eur J Sport Sci. 2020;21:1–18. PubMed

Kuzik N, Naylor PJ, Spence JC, Carson V. Movement behaviours and physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development in preschool-aged children: cross-sectional associations using compositional analyses. PLoS ONE. 2020;15(8):e0237945. 10.1371/journal.pone.0237945. PubMed PMC

Straker L, Mathiassen SE, Holtermann A. The, “Goldilocks Principle”: designing physical activity at work to be “just right” for promoting health. Br J Sports Med. 2018;52(13):818–9. PubMed PMC

Holtermann A, Rasmussen CL, Hallman DM, Ding D, Dumuid D, Gupta N. 24-Hour physical behavior balance for better health for all: “the sweet-spot hypothesis.” Sports Med Open. 2021;7(1):98. PubMed PMC

Dumuid D, Olds T, Lange K, Edwards B, Lycett K, Burgner DP, et al. Goldilocks Days: optimising children’s time use for health and well-being. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2021;76(3):301–8. PubMed

Dumuid D, Simm P, Wake M, Burgner D, Juonala M, Wu F, et al. The “Goldilocks Day” for children’s skeletal health: compositional data analysis of 24-hour activity behaviors. J Bone Miner Res. 2020;35(12):2393–403. PubMed

Dumuid D, Wake M, Burgner D, Tremblay MS, Okely AD, Edwards B, et al. Balancing time use for children’s fitness and adiposity: evidence to inform 24-hour guidelines for sleep, sedentary time and physical activity. PLoS ONE. 2021;16(1 January):1–16. PubMed PMC

Spencer RMC, Campanella C, de Jong DM, Desrochers P, Root H, Cremone A, et al. Sleep and behavior of preschool children under typical and nap-promoted conditions. Sleep Health. 2016;2(1):35–41. 10.1016/j.sleh.2015.12.009. PubMed

Oakley N. Validation with polysomnography of the sleepwach sleep/wake scoring algorithm used by teh Actiwatch activity monitoring system. Bend, OR; 1997.

Meltzer LJ, Walsh CM, Peightal AA. Comparison of actigraphy immobility rules with polysomnographic sleep onset latency in children and adolescents. Sleep Breathing. 2015;19(4):1415–23. PubMed PMC

Hyde M, O’Driscoll DM, Binette S, Galang C, Tan SK, Verginis N, et al. Validation of actigraphy for determining sleep and wake in children with sleep disordered breathing. J Sleep Res. 2007;16:213–6. PubMed

Bélanger MÈ, Bernier A, Paquet J, Simard V, Carrier J. Validating actigraphy as a measure of sleep for preschool children. J Clin Sleep Med. 2013;9(7):701–6. PubMed PMC

Sitnick SL, Goodlin-Jones BL, Anders TF. The use of actigraphy to study sleep disorders in preschoolers: some concerns about detection of nighttime awakenings. Sleep. 2008;31(3):395–401. PubMed PMC

Ekblom O, Nyberg G, Bak EE, Ekelund U, Marcus C. Validity and comparability of a wrist-worn accelerometer in children. J Phys Act Health. 2012;9(3):389–93. PubMed

Alhassan S, Sirard JR, Kurdziel LBF, Merrigan S, Greever C, Spencer RMC. Cross-validation of two accelerometers for assessment of physical activity and sedentary time in preschool children. Pediatr Exerc Sci. 2017;29(2):268–77. PubMed

Migueles JH, Cadenas-Sanchez C, Ekelund U, Delisle Nyström C, Mora-Gonzalez J, Löf M, et al. Accelerometer data collection and processing criteria to assess physical activity and other outcomes: a systematic review and practical considerations. Sports Med. 2017;47(9):1821–45. PubMed PMC

Dunn LM, Dunn DM, Bulheller S. Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test: PPVT. Swets Test Services; 2003.

Savion-Lemieux T, Bailey JA, Penhune VB. Developmental contributions to motor sequence learning. Exp Brain Res. 2009;195(2):293–306. PubMed

McDermott JM, Pérez-Edgar K, Fox NA. Variations of the flanker paradigm: assessing selective attention in young children. Behav Res Methods. 2007;39(1):62–70. PubMed

Achenbach TM, Ruffle TM. The child behavior checklist and related forms for assessing behavioral/emotional problems and competencies. Pediatr Rev. 2000;21(1):265–71. PubMed

Berzofsky M, Smiley-McDonald H, Moore A, Krebs C. Measuring Socioeconomic Status (SES) in the NCVS: Background, Options, and Recommendations. Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice. 2014.

Team RC. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. In: In R Foundation for Statistical Computing. 2017.

van den Boogaart KG, Tolosana-Delgado R. “Compositions”: a unified R package to analyze compositional data. Comput Geosci. 2008;34(4):320–38.

Fox JWS, An R. Companion to applied regression. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc.; 2019.

Dumuid D, Pediši Ž, Antoni J. Compositional data analysis in time-use epidemiology: what, why, how. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:2220. PubMed PMC

Pawlowsky-Glahn V, Egozcue JJ, Tolosana-Delgado R. Modelling and analysis of compositional data. New York: Wiley; 2015.

Egozcue JJ, Pawlowsky-Glahn V, Mateu-Figueras G, Barceló-Vidal C. Isometric logratio transformations for compositional data analysis. Math Geol. 2003;35:279–300.

Fox J, Weisberg S. An R companion to applied regression. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications; 2011.

Reiss AL, Abrams MT, Singer HS, Ross JL, Denckla MB, Hopkins J, et al. Brain development, gender and IQ in children. A volumetric imaging study. Brain. 1996;119:1763–74. PubMed

Horváth K, Plunkett K. Frequent daytime naps predict vocabulary growth in early childhood. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2016;57(9):1008–17. PubMed PMC

Kocevska D, Rijlaarsdam J, Ghassabian A, Jaddoe VW, Franco OH, Verhulst FC, et al. Early childhood sleep patterns and cognitive development at age 6 years: the generation R study. J Pediatr Psychol. 2017;42(3):260–8. PubMed

Fairclough SJ, Tyler R, Dainty JR, Dumuid D, Richardson C, Shepstone L, et al. Cross-sectional associations between 24-hour activity behaviours and mental health indicators in children and adolescents: a compositional data analysis. J Sports Sci. 2021;39(14):1602–14. PubMed

Riggins T, Geng F, Blankenship SL, Redcay E. Hippocampal functional connectivity and episodic memory in early childhood. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2016;19:58–69. PubMed PMC

Gómez RL, Edgin JO. Sleep as a window into early neural development: shifts in sleep-dependent learning effects across early childhood. Child Dev Perspect. 2015;9(3):183–9. PubMed PMC

Mindell JA, Meltzer LJ, Carskadon MA, Chervin RD. Developmental aspects of sleep hygiene: findings from the 2004 National Sleep Foundation Sleep in America Poll. Sleep Med. 2009;10(7):771–9. PubMed

Goodnight JA, Bates JE, Staples AD, Pettit GS, Dodge KA. Temperamental resistance to control increases the association between sleep problems and externalizing behavior development. J Fam Psychol. 2007;21(1):39–48. PubMed PMC

Cremone A, de Jong DM, Kurdziel LBF, Desrochers P, Sayer A, Lebourgeois M, et al. Sleep tight, act right: negative affect, sleep and behavior problems during early childhood. Child Dev. 2018;89(2):e42-59. PubMed PMC

Chong KH, Parrish AM, Cliff DP, Dumuid D, Okely AD. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between 24-hour movement behaviours, recreational screen use and psychosocial health outcomes in children: a compositional data analysis approach. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021;18(11):5995. PubMed PMC

Cliff DP, Reilly JJ, Okely AD. Methodological considerations in using accelerometers to assess habitual physical activity in children aged 0–5 years. J Sci Med Sport. 2009;12(5):557–67. PubMed

Meltzer LJ, Montgomery-Downs HE, Insana SP, Walsh CM. Use of actigraphy for assessment in pediatric sleep research. Sleep Med Rev. 2012;16:463–75. PubMed PMC

Best JR. Effects of physical activity on children’s executive function. Dev Rev. 2010;30(4):331–551. PubMed PMC

Zobrazit více v PubMed

ClinicalTrials.gov
NCT03285880