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Table 1 Intervention variables and definition of interventions according to recommendations and shift interventions

From: The effects of hypothetical behavioral interventions on the 13-year incidence of overweight/obesity in children and adolescents

Intervention variable

Intervention according to recommendation

Shift intervention

Sleep durationa

All children adhere to age-specific sleep recommendations at all waves:

Sleep duration is increased in all children that do not meet the lower recommended level by 0.5 h

Age

Recommended sleep duration

3–5 years

10–13 h per 24 h (incl. naps)f

6–12 years

9–12 h per 24 hoursf

13–18 years

8–10 h per 24 hoursf

18–60 years

7 or more hours per nightg

If child sleeps less than recommended, sleep duration of that child is set to the lower value of the recommendation

Screen timeb

All children < 6 years have a screen time of no more than 1 h/day

All children ≥ 6 years have a screen time of no more than 2 h/day

If child has higher screen time than recommended, screen time is set to upper the value of the recommendation

If children do not meet screen time recommendations, screen time is reduced by 0.5 h or, if recommendation is exceeded by less than 0.5 h, screen time is set to upper level of recommendation

Sugar-sweetened beverage consumptionc

All children drink SSB no more than 4 times/week

If child consumes SSB > 4 times/week, SSB is set to 4 times/week

If SSB > 4 times/week, SSB is reduced by 1 per day but not below 4 times/week

Eating while doing something elsed

All children eat while doing something else on a non-daily basis, i.e. less than daily

If child eats while doing something else ‘daily’, value is set to ‘non-daily’

Membership in sports clubd

All children are a member of a sports club

Active transportd

All children and adolescents use an active form of transport to/from kindergarten/school/work

MVPAe

All children meet PA recommendations of at least 60 min MVPA per day

If MVPA < 60 min/day, then MVPA is set to 60 min/day

If children do not meet MVPA recommendations, MVPA is increased by 15 min/day or, if recommendation is underrun by less than 15 min/day, MVPA is set to lower level of recommendation (60 min/day)

  1. aRecommendations according to Center for Disease Control 2017 [3]
  2. bRecommendations according to American Psychological Association 2019 [4] and American Academy of Pediatrics [5]
  3. cNo clear recommendations exist but a recent review and meta-analysis pointed to an unfavorable effect of consuming more than 4 SSB/week [24]
  4. dMembership in sports club, active transport and eating while doing something else were dichotomous variables and no clear recommendations exist. For these reasons, here interventions were defined as adhering to the assumed favorable level
  5. eRecommendations simplified according to World Health Organization for children under 5 years 2019 [6] and for children aged ≥ 5 years of age and youth 2020 [7]
  6. fRecommendations based on a consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine [2]
  7. gRecommendations based on a joint consensus statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society [1]
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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

ISSN: 1479-5868

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