Association Between Physical Activity, Screen Time and Sleep, and School Readiness in Canadian Children Aged 4 to 6 Years.

School readiness is strongly associated with a child's future school success and well-being. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether meeting 24-hour movement guidelines (national physical activity, sedentary behaviors, and sleep recommendations) was associated with school readiness measured with mean scores in each of the 5 developmental domains of the Early Development Instrument (EDI) in Canadian children aged 4 to 6 years. Secondary objectives include examining the following: (1) the association between meeting 24-hour movement guidelines and overall vulnerability in school readiness and (2) the association between meeting individual physical activity, screen use and sleep recommendations, and overall school readiness. A prospective cohort study was performed using data from children (aged 4-6 years) who participated in a large-scale primary care practice-based research network. Of the 739 participants (aged 5.9 + 0.12 years) in this prospective cohort study, 18.2% met the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. Linear regression models (adjusted for child/family demographic characteristics, number of siblings, immigration status, and annual household income) revealed no evidence of an association between meeting all 24-hour movement guidelines and any of the 5 domains of the EDI (p > 0.05). Adjusted linear regression models revealed evidence of an association between meeting screen use guidelines and the "language and cognitive development" (β = 0.16, p = 0.004) domain, and for the sleep guideline, there was a statistically significant association with the "physical health and well-being" (β = 0.23, p = 0.001), the "language and cognitive development" (β = 0.10, p = 0.003), and the "communication skills and general knowledge" (β = 0.18, p < 0.001) domain. Early lifestyle interventions targeting screen use and sleep may be beneficial for improving a child's readiness for school.

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Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Disclosure: P. C. Parkin reports receiving a grant from the Hospital for Sick Children Foundation during the conduct of the study. P. C. Parkin reports receiving the following grants unrelated to this study: a grant from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (FRN #115059) for an ongoing investigator-initiated trial of iron deficiency in young children, for which Mead Johnson Nutrition provides nonfinancial support (Fer-In-Sol® liquid iron supplement) (2011–2017) and peer-reviewed grants for completed investigator-initiated studies from the Danone Institute of Canada (2002–2004 and 2006–2009) and Dairy Farmers of Ontario (2008–2010). J. L. Maguire received an unrestricted research grant for a completed investigator-initiated study from the Dairy Farmers of Canada (2011–2012), and D drops provided nonfinancial support (vitamin D supplements) for an investigator-initiated study on vitamin D and respiratory tract infections (2011–2015). C. M. Borkhoff reports previously receiving a grant for a completed investigator-initiated study from the SickKids Center for Healthy Active Kids (2015–2016) involving the development and validation of a risk stratification tool to identify young asymptomatic children at risk for iron deficiency. These agencies had no role in the design, collection, analyses, or interpretation of the results of this study or in the preparation, review, or approval of the article. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.