24-hour movement behaviors and physical health in preschoolers: A compositional and isotemporal reallocation analysis

Abstract Purpose Explore systematically whether preschool children’s movement behaviors were relevant to physical health, as well as the dose effect between the time change in movement behaviors and physical health. Method Preschool children (n = 382) from kindergarten in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province in Central China were recruited, measures included accelerometer-derived 24-hour movement behaviors (sedentary behavior SB, light physical activity LPA, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity MVPA, daytime sleepDSP and nighttime sleep NSP), physical health determined by China’s National Physical health Tests Standards Manual. Compositional data statistics was employed for analysis, with significance set at p < .05. Results The isotemporal substitution for preschool children’s other behaviors with MVPA has all played an active role in physical health, with the isotemporal substitution for LPA being the best. When MVPA is fixed, both DSP isotemporal substitutes SB and LPA and NSP isotemporal substitutes LPA have certain health benefits. Conclusions Findings reinforce the key role of MVPA for children’s health, however, future educators should attach great importance to behaviors as a whole with constant maintenance and promotion when improving preschool children’s physical health levels, and the most effective approach is by increasing MVPA and lowering LPA.