Physical Activity, Sedentary Behaviours, and Snacking in Youth of Northeast England and Harbin, Northeast China

Abstract

Recent cross-cultural studies explore the worldwide variability of physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and snacking in different countries and age groups. Health behaviours in young people in different countries are explained by cultural differences as well as by the influence of psychosocial characteristics and socioeconomic status. In the United Kingdom, modern westernised inactive lifestyles and unhealthy diet are both responsible for the prevalence of obesity. China has seen significant economic development in the past few years and this has been hypothesised to have major changes in lifestyles, including decreased physical activity and increased energy intake. Along with higher income, the likelihood of people having a healthy lifestyle has decreased. Therefore, present study aimed to describe young people`s involvement in physical activity, sedentary behaviours, and snacking in the northeast of England and Harbin in the northeast of China. Our results show that the youth from the United Kingdom were more active through sport; however, they also spent more time in front of the TV and computer screen compared with Chinese counterparts. Snacking on sweets appeared to be higher in the United Kingdom, which is associated with screen time. This finding supports the need of further studies to