B-PROACT1v

Summary
The B-PROACT1V project is a British Heart Foundation (BHF) funded longitudinal study concerning physical activity and screen-viewing patterns of children and their parents. The first phase of this project took place between January 2012 and May 2013 where data were collected from 1456 Year 1 children (5-6 years) and their parents from across 57 schools in the Bristol, Bath (BaNES) and North Somerset area. Analyses of these data showed that parents play an important role in influencing their children’s physical activity and screen-viewing behaviours.

The research team returned to the same schools in March 2015 to July 2016 to measure the changes in physical activity and screen-viewing behaviours of the children now they are in Year 4 (8-9 years old). 47 schools were recruited during this phase, with 1224 children and their parents consenting to participate. Finally, between March 2017 and July 2018 the team visited 50 of the original schools and collected data on 1299 children who were now in Year 6 and their parents. 

Measures
In all phases children and parents have worn an activity monitor (accelerometer) for 5 consecutive days (3 weekdays and both weekend days). The data from these monitors will be processed to provide information about overall levels of physical activity as well as when that activity takes place. We also assess the children’s height, weight and blood pressure, and ask both the children and their parents to complete a survey. The parental survey looks at what parents do to help their children to be active, and the child survey looks at how their social networks influence their decisions around physical activity.

The data from the project will be used to identify how patterns of physical activity and screen-viewing change as the children get older and what parents can do to help their children to be physically active.

To find out more about the project please contact Prof Russ Jago ([email protected])