Master of Science (Exercise and Sport Studies)

This study comprised two parts. The objective of part 1 is to develop a common time use surveillance tool (Adolescent-smalQ) that is appropriate, valid, and reliable for the context of the research. The Association of Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Guide No. 87 guided the development of Adolescent-smalQ that aimed to examine the prevalence of adolescents in meeting The Singapore Integrated 24-Hour Activity Guidelines for Children and Adolescents. These guidelines include (i) sleep of at least 9 hours (for 7-13 years old), at least 8 hours (for 14-17 years old), and at least 7 hours (for 18 years old), (ii) ≥ 60 minutes of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) daily, (iii) ≥ 80% adherence to the Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB) “My Healthy Plate” and (iv) the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for recreational Screen Time (ST) of ≤ 2 hours daily. The objective of part 2 is to examine the time use of international schools’ adolescents studying in Singapore and their adherence to the 24-hour integrated activity guidelines and their quality of life. The participants were 555 adolescents (mean age: 15.7 ± 1.4 years, mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of 20.2 ± 3.6, 56.4% female) from two international schools in Singapore. Male and female mean nighttime sleep duration was significantly different on weekdays (7.3 hr vs 6.8 hr, F (1,547) = 18.26, p <.05, partial ŋ² = .032) but not on weekends (8.6 hr for both genders, F (1, 547) = 0.01, p >.05, partial ŋ² = .000). However, mean MVPA was significantly different for male and female on weekday (2.2 hr vs 1.8 hr, F (1,547) = 5.26, p <.05, partial ŋ² = .010), and weekend (1.6 hr vs 1.3 hr, F (1,548) = 15.05, p <.05, partial ŋ² = .030). No differences were found between male and female mean ST for weekday (6.4 hr vs 6.8 hr, F (1,548) = 2.38, p >.05, partial ŋ² = .004) and weekend (7.1 hr vs 7.5 hr, F (1,546) = 2.58, p >.05, partial ŋ² = .005). The prevalence of adolescents meeting all four guidelines (sleep, MVPA, ST and diet) was 6% with 23.6% meeting three and 37.1% meeting at least two guidelines. Meeting all four guidelines was associated with higher mean PedsQLTM score (m = 78.7, 95% CI:74.7, 82.8) compared to meeting none (m = 65.3, 95% CI:59.0, 79.6). In summary, meeting more guidelines was attributed to having a higher mean PedsQLTM score, p=<.05. The correlation between the number of guidelines met and PedsQLTM (total health) score was found to be slightly positive r(555)=.24, p=0.01. Efforts to educate parents, caregivers, educators and adolescents on the importance of the Singapore 24-hour integrated activity guidelines is recommended to promote healthy lifestyle behaviours and increased wellbeing in today's adolescents.