Kelechi Kemnele, Alisha Thomas, Julia Nord-Leth, Danielle Walwyn, Leslie Walwyn, Ian Janssen¹, Kate Storey⁵, Jo Sheppard, Lucie Lévesque

Global rise in poor mental health outcomes among children represents a critical public health challenge (WHO, 2024). The Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines have emerged as a holistic approach to guide children’s movement behaviour (MB) (Chaput et al., 2014; Tremblay et al., 2016). Evidence from diverse global contexts consistently links meeting these guidelines with improved mental health outcomes (Dale et al., 2025; Fairclough et al., 2023; Liang et al., 2023; Saunders et al., 2016; Wilhite et al., 2023). There are gender disparities in meeting movement guidelines (Hossian et al., 2025; Tapia-Serrano et al., 2022) and gender disparities in mental health outcomes too (Asher & Aderka, 2018; Baños & Miragall, 2024; Wang et al., 2024). Data on movement guidelines and mental health in Antigua and Barbuda are lacking.This research seeks to explore the relationship between movement behaviours and mental health in children, with a focus on gender differences, using holistic frameworks like the dual continua model of mental health.In October 2024 and May 2025 my team and I collected data from 1,378 grade 5 & 6 schoolchildren from 58 primary schools in Antigua and Barbuda. Using validated measures from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children, children self-reported physical activity, sleep, sedentary (screentime), and mental health.Using Rao-Scott chi-square tests and Multinomial Generalised Estimating Equation (GEE) models, alongside Evidence Gap Maps to identify translational and equity gaps in movement-based mental health interventions for children.This work will provide empirical evidence to inform targeted public health interventions and policy in resource-limited settings.