384 - Parent-facilitated Child Health Behaviors in Association with 5-year-olds' Physical and Mental Health: A Comparison between Pre-Pandemic and Peri-Pandemic Period

Poster Number: 384
Publication Number: 384.143

Background: Child health behaviors are associated with physical and mental health. We aimed to explore the patterns of child health behaviors in 5-year-old children during pre- and peri-pandemic periods, in relation to physical and mental health.

Objective: (1) Identify profiles of child health behaviors in 5-year-old children; (2) investigate the links between these profiles and child externalizing behaviors and body mass index; (3) examine sociodemographic and temporal factors associated with the profiles.

Design/Methods: We conducted latent profile analysis using TARGet Kids! data from 5-year-old children collected between 2009-2019 (N = 718; 47.4% female) and 2020-2023 (N=214, 50.9% female). The study considered five child health behaviors: screen time, meals during screen time, physical activity, sleep duration, and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Profiles were analyzed in relation to sociodemographic factors (child sex assigned at birth, household income, number of siblings), temporal variables (year of data collection), and outcomes (child externalizing behaviors assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and child body mass index (zBMI)).

Results: In the 2009-2019 data, 3 distinct profiles were identified, with Profile 1 (reference), representing 82.2% of the sample. Profile 2 (7.2% of the sample) was characterized by high sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, moderate screen time, and moderate meals during screen time. Profile 2 was associated with earlier data collection years and higher zBMI compared to Profile 1. Profile 3 (10.6% of the sample) featured high screen time and frequent meals during screen time and was associated with lower income and a later data collection year compared to Profile 1. Neither Profile 2 nor 3 were associated with higher SDQ scores.
In the 2020-2023 data, three similar profiles were identified, with Profile 1 representing 69.2% of the sample. Profile 2 (22.9% of the sample) was characterized by high sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, low screen time, and moderate meals during screen time. Profile 3 (7.9% of the sample) featured high screen time and frequent meals during screen time and was associated with higher SDQ scores. Neither Profile 2 nor Profile 3 were associated with zBMI.

Conclusion(s): There was consistency in health behavior patterns between the pre-pandemic and peri-pandemic periods. An emerging trend observed in 2019 was the increased prevalence of parent-facilitated child health behavior profiles involving high screen time and meals during screen time, which were associated with higher SDQ scores during the 2020-2023 period.