Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40930819›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental health and preventive medicine2025

Socioeconomic inequalities in health behaviours pre- and post-COVID-19 among Japanese school-aged adolescents: a nationally representative three-wave repeated cross-sectional survey.

Akira Kyan, Minoru Takakura

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Article in Environmental health and preventive medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Akira KyanFaculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8134-8687
Minoru TakakuraFaculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5558-7863

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChanges in socioeconomic inequalities in health behaviours following the COVID-19 pandemic remain unknown, particularly among Japanese school-aged adolescents. Therefore, in this study, we examined changes in socioeconomic inequalities in school-aged adolescents' health behaviours, including physical activity (PA), screen time (ST), sleep duration, breakfast consumption, and bowel movement frequency, before and after the pandemic.

methodsThis three-wave repeated cross-sectional study utilised data from the 2019, 2021, and 2023 National Sports-Life Survey of Children and Young People in Japan, analysing data from 766, 725, and 604 participants aged 12-18 years, respectively. Favourable health behaviours were defined as moderate-to-vigorous PA of ≥60 min/day, ST <2 h/day, sleep duration of 8-10 h, daily breakfast consumption, and bowel movements at least every 3 days. Absolute and relative socioeconomic inequalities were quantified using the slope index of inequality (SII) and the relative index of inequality (RII). Temporal changes were analysed using quadratic trend analyses, employing interaction terms between socioeconomic status and survey year.

resultsSignificant quadratic trends indicated that socioeconomic inequalities in breakfast consumption decreased substantially from 2019 (SII: 20.7%, RII: 5.09) to 2021 (SII: -0.1%, RII: 0.95) but resurged in 2023 (SII: 16.2%, RII: 3.70). This resurgence may have been primarily driven by changes among those in the moderately low-income (poverty level II) and higher-income groups, which had a breakfast consumption rate of 81.0, 87.0, and 76.4% in 2019, 2021, and 2023, and 88.7, 82.1, and 87.5%, respectively. Among low-income households, adherence to PA recommendations significantly declined from 18.6% to 5.3%, and ST adherence worsened over the study period. No significant inequalities or trends were observed for sleep duration or bowel movement frequency across survey years.

conclusionsSocioeconomic disparities in breakfast consumption among Japanese school-aged adolescents resurfaced after initially narrowing during the pandemic, likely driven by changes in moderately low-income and higher-income groups. Among low-income households, adherence to PA and ST guidelines declined over time. However, at the population level, socioeconomic inequalities in PA did not exhibit a consistent trend of widening or narrowing. This study highlights the need for sustained public health initiatives to address these socioeconomic disparities.

Indexed as

COVID-19Health BehaviorSocioeconomic FactorsAdolescentBreakfastChildCross-Sectional StudiesEast Asian PeopleExerciseFemaleHumansJapanMaleScreen TimeSleepAdolescent health behavioursBreakfast consumptionCOVID-19 pandemicPhysical activityScreen timeSocioeconomic inequalities

Identifiers

PMID40930819
PMCPMC12436070

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.