Adherence to the 24-hour movement guidelines among adolescents in Antigua & Barbuda: A pilot study 

Kelechi Kemnele, Danielle Walwyn, Leslie Walwyn, Ian Janssen, Kate Storey, Lucie Lévesque

Several positive outcomes are linked to meeting 24-hour movement guidelines for physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and sleep. Despite proven benefits, low levels of engagement in movement behaviours among adolescents persist in most countries. Although data are either outdated or absent for Antigua and Barbuda, it is likely that promotion of movement behaviours is needed; current data can optimize such intervention efforts. The objective of this study is to investigate adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines among adolescents in Antigua and Barbuda. A self-administered questionnaire assessing movement behaviours of 132 students aged 10-13 years from four elementary schools in Antigua was used. PA was measured using two items on the PACE + Adolescent Physical Activity Measure survey, while sleep and screen time (a proxy for SB) were measured using items from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey. Descriptive statistics including frequencies and means were calculated. 70% of the adolescents met PA recommendations, 59% met sleep recommendations, 24% met screen time recommendations, and 20% met all three recommendations. These results emphasize the need for targeted interventions and comprehensive strategies to address specific aspects of movement behaviours in Antiguan adolescents.