Association between migration and physical activity of school-age children left behind in rural Mexico

Results from the 2022 Mexican report card on physical activity for children and adolescents

Introduction

The Mexican Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents aims to assess the prevalence of movement behaviors and opportunities to perform them.

Methods

Data on 11 indicators were obtained from national health surveys, census data, government documents, websites, and published studies. Data were compared against established benchmarks, and a grade between 0 and 10 was assigned to each indicator.

Results

For Daily Behaviors, we found 34.5% of Mexican children and adolescents meet Physical Activity recommendations (Grade 3), 48.4% participate in Organized Sports (Grade 5), 35-75.8% engage in Active Play outdoors (Grade 4), 54.1% use Active Transportation (Grade 5), 43.6% spend <2 h in Sedentary Behavior per day (Grade 4), and 65-91% meet Sleep recommendations (Grade 7). Girls have lower physical activity levels and sports participation than boys of the same age. For Physical Fitness, we found 56.2-61.8% of children and adolescents have an adequate body mass index for their age (Grade 6). For Sources of Influence, we found 65-67% of parents engage in physical activity or sports in a week (Grade 7), 32.2-53.3% of basic education schools have a physical education teacher (Grade 6), and 37% of neighborhoods in Mexico have sidewalks with trees (Grade 4). Regarding Government, several policies and programs aimed at improving children physical activity were launched but their impact and allocated implementation budget are unknown (Grade 6).

Discussion

Mexican children and adolescents engage in low levels of movement behaviors and have limited opportunities to perform such behaviors. The grades and recommendations provided here should be considered to improve such opportunities.

Compliance with Health-Related Behaviors Guidelines and Its Relationship with Multiple Factors in Preschool Children Aged 3–6 Years: A National Cross-Sectional Survey in China

Purpose: To investigate the compliance rates of health-related behaviors among Chinese preschool children, and to explore how supportive family environment, parental behavior, sociodemographic and community factors affect children’s health-related behavior comprehensively. Method: Preschool children aged 3 to 6 years were chosen from 5760 villages (residential) committees from 471 counties (districts) of 31 provinces by use of a stratified random sampling procedure, with 10,967 preschool children aged 3–6 years old included. The survey was conducted from September 2020 to November 2020. Results: The proportion of Chinese preschool children who met the moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), screen time behavior (ST), and sleep behavior (SLP) guidelines were 62.3%, 52.8%, and 53.8%. Among the supportive family environment factors, parents’ time with their children on weekends had the most significant impact on children’s MVPA, ST, and SLP, with the odds ratio (OR) values of 2.18 (95%CI:1.97, 2.40), 0.69 (0.63, 0.76), and 1.62 (1.48, 1.79), respectively. Among the parental behavior factors, the mother’s exercise frequency had a strong association with the children’s MVPA and SLP, with OR values of 1.65 (1.50, 1.83) and 1.24 (1.13, 1.37), respectively; the mother’s screen time was inversely associated with the children’s ST with an OR value of 0.47 (0.44, 0.51). Conclusions: Different types of family environments were associated with the different levels of MVPA, ST and SLP among Chinese preschool children. In addition to the influence of parents’ education and family income, parents could also improve their children’s behaviors by providing a supportive family environment. The more of these factors presented in a family, the more likely it was for children to meet the guidelines. Therefore, for those families whose children’s health-related behaviors needed to be improved, the parents should create supportive family environments, such as by playing less on mobile phone and spending more time with children.

Working around the border: Shared experiences of art therapists working with families impacted by immigration and political realities in Mexico and the United States

This art-based, participatory action research sought to foster dialog between art therapists working on both sides of the US (Southern California)-Mexico (Tijuana) border in 2019. The paper summarizes the narratives from three initial focus groups, highlighting main findings arising from systematic analyses of verbal, creative and reflective writing input of participants. Identified themes include therapists' need to respond to immigration crisis; the realities of being a part of a border town; observing differences between communities; learning from the art of art therapists working with immigrants and refugees; and identifying challenges as a therapist. These themes inspired the creation of preliminary guidelines and are discussed within the context of mental health services around the border at this time.

Prevalence of unintentional injury among left-behind children in mainland China: Evidence from epidemiological surveys

BACKGROUND

Left-behind children have become a particular concern in mainland China, and unintentional injury among these children has attracted increasing attention. This review aims to present the prevalence of unintentional injury among left-behind children and subgroups in mainland China.

METHODS

A systematic literature search was conducted using four Chinese and two English databases. The included publications were cross-sectional studies in mainland China, of which the population was recruited according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Information was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The risk of bias was estimated using the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology, and pooled prevalence was estimated through the DerSimonian-Laird proportion method.

RESULTS

This review included 34 cross-sectional studies consisting 58,348 left-behind children in mainland China. Results showed that the pooled prevalence of unintentional injury was 38.24% (95% confidence interval (CI): 28.40-48.08) among left-behind children. The prevalence was higher among left-behind children (38.76%) than among non-left-behind children (27.94%), with an odds ratio of 1.65 (95% CI: 1.47-1.85). Furthermore, the prevalence of injury was higher among boys (39.12%) than among girls (28.61%), with an odds ratio of 1.58 (95% CI: 1.41-1.77). Falls had the highest prevalence of 20.79% among the types of unintentional injury. Furthermore, home was the occurrence location with the highest prevalence (16.20%). No significant difference in injury prevalence was observed among left-behind children without accompanying parents and those with single parent accompanying them.

CONCLUSIONS

This review showed a relatively high injury prevalence among left-behind children in mainland China. Boys had a higher prevalence than girls. Falls had the highest prevalence, and home was the most common occurrence location.

Parent Emigration, Physical Health and Related Risk and Preventive Factors of Children Left Behind: A Systematic Review of Literature

The aim of our study was to systematically review the literature on physical health and related consequences of internal and international parental migration on left-behind children (LBC). This review followed PRISMA guidelines. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, and Cochrane databases and included studies reporting physical health-related outcomes of children affected by parental migration. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies. We selected 34 publications from a total of 6061 search results. The study found that LBC suffer from poor physical health as compared with non-LBC. Physical health-related risk factors such as underweight, lower weight, stunted growth, unhealthy food preferences, lower physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, injuries, and incomplete vaccination tend to be more prevalent among LBC in China. Studies focussing on international migration argue that having migrant parents might be preventive for undernutrition. Overall, our study showed that children affected by internal or international migration tend to have similar physical health outcomes. Moreover, we identified a lack of evidence on international parental migration that may have influenced the overall impacts. Further studies addressing international migration would contribute to better understand the impacts of migration for LBC.

Mexico's 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth: Full report

Objectives.

Mexico’s 2018 Report Card evaluates the opportunities available for Mexican children and youth to reach healthy levels of physical activity, sleep, and sedentary behavior.

Methods.

The Report Card is a surveillance system that gathers data from national surveys, censuses, government documents, websites, grey literature, and published studies to evaluate 16 indicators in four categories: Daily Behaviors; Physical Fitness; Settings and Sources of Influence; and Strategies and Investments. Data were compared to established benchmarks. Each indicator was assigned a grade from 1 – 10 (< 6 is a failing grade) or “incomplete” if data was insufficient/unavailable.

Results.

Daily Behavior grades were: Overall Physical Activity, 4; Organized Sport Participation, 5; Active Play, 3; Active Transportation, 5; Sleep, 7; and Sedentary Behavior, 3. Physical Fitness, received a 7. Settings and Sources of Influence grades were: Family and Peers, incomplete; School, 3; and Community and Environment, 4. Strategies and Investments were: Government Strategies, 6; and Non-Government Organizations, 2.

Conclusion.

Low grades in 11 of the 16 indicators indicate that schools, families, communities, and government need to work together to improve physical activity opportunities for children and youth in Mexico.

Mental health and risk behaviors of children in rural China with different patterns of parental migration: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

One in seven members of China's population are migrants. There are an estimated 41 million children left behind in rural areas who are living without one or both of their parents. The impact of two- and single-parent migration on child mental health and risk behaviors is unclear. The aim of this study was to compare the mental health and risk behaviors among children whose parents are either both migrating (B-LBC), have one parent migrating (O-LBC) or those whose parents do not migrate (N-LBC).

METHODS

This study was a cross-sectional survey using a self-administered questionnaire conducted in rural areas with high proportions of left behind children (LBC) in Anhui Province, southeast China. The tools used were the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaires, Youth Risk Behavior Survey and the Young's Internet Addiction Test for Chinese.

RESULTS

Full data were available for 699 B-LBC, 552 O-LBC and 741 N-LBC. After adjusting for gender, age, grade, number of siblings and self-rated socio-economic status, B-LBC were significantly more likely to have higher emotional symptoms scores (B(SE) = 0.36(0.11), p < 0.01), higher hyperactivity scores (B(SE) = 0.22(0.11), p < 0.01) and higher total difficulties scores (B(SE) = 0.79(0.29), p < 0.01) than N-LBC. B-LBC were also more likely to be an addicted internet user (OR(95%CI) = 1.91(1.33, 2.76), p < 0.01) compared to N-LBC. However, there were no identified differences between O-LBC and N-LBC or between O-LBC and B-LBC in any measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings found that living with one parent or both parents was associated with better mental health and fewer risk behaviors than was being separated from both parents. Future research is needed to consider the implications of these findings for policies and programs to protect LBC, especially for those with two migrating parents.

Does Parental Migration Have Negative Impact on the Growth of Left-Behind Children?-New Evidence from Longitudinal Data in Rural China

The soaring number of left-behind children (LBC) in China has raised concerns about whether or not they can receive adequate care. This study investigated the impact of parents’ migration on LBC’s growth. LBC were divided into father-left children (F-LBC) and at least mother left children (M-LBC), both of which were compared with non-left-behind children (non-LBC) in terms of growth indicators. Data of 466 children with two continuous measurements were obtained from the four recent waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). Anthropometric measures and 24-h recall of three consecutive days of dietary intake were extracted. The disparity of growth and nutrition status were compared by the difference-in-difference (DID) method. Results showed that LBC had significantly worse height and weight than non-LBC at baseline, respectively (p = 0.006, p = 0.003). This disadvantage was improved after parental migration, especially for M-LBC. However, the impact on growth status caused by parents’ migration was statistically insignificant once the pre-treatment disparity was removed. Further analysis on nutrition status indicated that fathers’ migration had a significant negative impact on F-LBC’s calorie intake (p = 0.014), which was mainly caused by the decline of carbohydrates (p = 0.008). This study indicated that the negative impact detected in previous studies might be caused by the retarded growth of LBC before parents’ migration.