To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years

Objective To evaluate the impact of (1) the removal of home access to traditional electronic games or (2) their replacement with active input electronic games, on daily physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years.Design Crossover randomised controlled trial, over 6 months....

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Main Authors: Anne J Smith, Leon M Straker, Rebecca A Abbott
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2013-07-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/6/e002629.full
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author Anne J Smith
Leon M Straker
Rebecca A Abbott
author_facet Anne J Smith
Leon M Straker
Rebecca A Abbott
author_sort Anne J Smith
collection DOAJ
description Objective To evaluate the impact of (1) the removal of home access to traditional electronic games or (2) their replacement with active input electronic games, on daily physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years.Design Crossover randomised controlled trial, over 6 months.Setting Family homes in metropolitan Perth, Australia from 2007 to 2010.Participants 10-year-old to 12-year-old children were recruited through school and community media. From 210 children who were eligible, 74 met inclusion criteria, 8 withdrew and 10 had insufficient primary outcome measures, leaving 56 children (29 female) for analysis.Intervention A counterbalanced randomised order of three conditions sustained for 8 weeks each: no home access to electronic games, home access to traditional electronic games and home access to active input electronic games.Main outcome measures Primary outcome was accelerometer assessed moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Secondary outcomes included sedentary time and diary assessed physical activity and sedentary behaviours.Results Daily MVPA across the whole week was not significantly different between conditions. However, compared with home access to traditional electronic games, removal of all electronic games resulted in a significant increase in MVPA (mean 3.8 min/day, 95% CI 1.5 to 6.1) and a decrease in sedentary time (4.7 min/day, 0.0 to 9.5) in the after-school period. Similarly, replacing traditional games with active input games resulted in a significant increase in MVPA (3.2 min/day, 0.9 to 5.5) and a decrease in sedentary time (6.2 min/day, 1.4 to 11.4) in the after-school period. Diary reports supported an increase in physical activity and a decrease in screen-based sedentary behaviours with both interventions.Conclusions Removal of sedentary electronic games from the child's home and replacing these with active electronic games both resulted in small, objectively measured improvements in after-school activity and sedentary time. Parents can be advised that replacing sedentary electronic games with active electronic games is likely to have the same effect as removing all electronic games.Trial Registration Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN 12609000279224)
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spelling doaj-art-5ffcaf9d616248a29286af8a862fc63b2025-02-11T11:35:10ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552013-07-013610.1136/bmjopen-2013-002629To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 yearsAnne J Smith0Leon M Straker1Rebecca A Abbott21 School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia5 School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, AustraliaSchool of Human Movement Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, AustraliaObjective To evaluate the impact of (1) the removal of home access to traditional electronic games or (2) their replacement with active input electronic games, on daily physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years.Design Crossover randomised controlled trial, over 6 months.Setting Family homes in metropolitan Perth, Australia from 2007 to 2010.Participants 10-year-old to 12-year-old children were recruited through school and community media. From 210 children who were eligible, 74 met inclusion criteria, 8 withdrew and 10 had insufficient primary outcome measures, leaving 56 children (29 female) for analysis.Intervention A counterbalanced randomised order of three conditions sustained for 8 weeks each: no home access to electronic games, home access to traditional electronic games and home access to active input electronic games.Main outcome measures Primary outcome was accelerometer assessed moderate/vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Secondary outcomes included sedentary time and diary assessed physical activity and sedentary behaviours.Results Daily MVPA across the whole week was not significantly different between conditions. However, compared with home access to traditional electronic games, removal of all electronic games resulted in a significant increase in MVPA (mean 3.8 min/day, 95% CI 1.5 to 6.1) and a decrease in sedentary time (4.7 min/day, 0.0 to 9.5) in the after-school period. Similarly, replacing traditional games with active input games resulted in a significant increase in MVPA (3.2 min/day, 0.9 to 5.5) and a decrease in sedentary time (6.2 min/day, 1.4 to 11.4) in the after-school period. Diary reports supported an increase in physical activity and a decrease in screen-based sedentary behaviours with both interventions.Conclusions Removal of sedentary electronic games from the child's home and replacing these with active electronic games both resulted in small, objectively measured improvements in after-school activity and sedentary time. Parents can be advised that replacing sedentary electronic games with active electronic games is likely to have the same effect as removing all electronic games.Trial Registration Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN 12609000279224)https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/6/e002629.full
spellingShingle Anne J Smith
Leon M Straker
Rebecca A Abbott
To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years
BMJ Open
title To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years
title_full To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years
title_fullStr To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years
title_full_unstemmed To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years
title_short To remove or to replace traditional electronic games? A crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10–12 years
title_sort to remove or to replace traditional electronic games a crossover randomised controlled trial on the impact of removing or replacing home access to electronic games on physical activity and sedentary behaviour in children aged 10 12 years
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/3/6/e002629.full
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