Study title

Sleep, Exercise and Eating Habits of Swedish-Speaking Finnish Children 2006 and 2008

Dataset ID Number

FSD3240

Persistent identifiers

https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3240
https://doi.org/10.60686/t-fsd3240

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Roos, Eva (Samfundet Folkhälsan)
• Ray, Carola (Samfundet Folkhälsan)

Abstract

The dataset consists of six surveys which charted the eating habits, sleep and exercise of Swedish-speaking primary school children and their parents. The surveys were conducted in the Uusimaa region in Finland in 2006 and 2008 and followed the same students and parents. Main topics included the children's health related habits and what affected them (e.g. family's eating habits, meals eaten, amount of exercise and sleeping habits). Additionally, the data include measurements such as the children's weight, height and waist circumference from both years of data collection. The surveys were conducted in Swedish and collected as part of the Hälsoverkstaden project by Folkhälsan. The schools were divided into control (N: 14) and intervention (N: 13) schools. At the intervention schools, the teachers received additional training on nutrition, exercise and sleep, and used their chosen extra materials and methods as part of their teaching. The children and their parents can be connected in the data.

The children responded to two surveys each year: a survey that contained general questions on the research topic and a more detailed Pro Children survey (Skolbarns matvanor) which charted the foods eaten in the past 24 hours, the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and daily screen time. The children's parents responded to one survey each year, which charted the sleeping, eating and exercise habits of the parent, child and family. The general questionnaires from both years include mostly the same questions. In the Pro Children surveys all questions were repeated.

The general surveys for children charted background information on them and their families, friends and school. The children were asked questions relating to how they would describe their parents, how they saw themselves e.g. compared to peers, how much their parents knew about their friends, money spending habits and whereabouts after schools, and how satisfied they were with their school. The children were also asked about their school lunch habits. Next, mealtimes were charted with questions relating to breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner and evening snack. The food and drinks consumed most often by the children and parents were also charted. Physical activity was examined with questions regarding, for example, exercise at school and at home, motivations behind exercise, parents' exercise habits, and how they would compare themselves to their peers. Screen time was examined with questions concerning the amount of time spent after school on watching TV, videos or DVDs, or playing games on a computer or game consoles. Finally, sleeping habits were charted with questions relating to, for example, whether the children thought they had problems with sleep, difficulties waking up in the morning, or felt tired during the day. Questions about sleep rhythm were also presented.

The surveys for parents first charted background information, such as whether they were responding alone or with someone and for how many hours a day their child was alone at home. Next, the parents were asked about their own physical activity as well as their motivations for taking their child to different hobbies (e.g. for the child to make friends or concentrate better in school). The screen time of the child was also examined. Both the parents' and children's sleep rhythm and habits were charted. Next, eating habits were examined with questions relating to, for example, what meals the child ate and whether the parents themselves ate fruits and vegetables. They were also asked what possible reasons there were for not buying fruits or vegetables (e.g. it's too expensive, the child is allergic) and whether the family ate meals together. Finally, the parents were asked to provide some additional background information and to describe their opinions and beliefs about health and health-related habits. Both questionnaires filled out by the parents contain a set of questions based on Antonovsky's Sense of Coherence scale.

The Pro Children questionnaire first asked the children to give some background information about themselves and their families. Then, the children were asked questions on what they had eaten in the morning, in school and after school on the day before the questionnaire was filled out. The questions concerning each of the three mealtimes related to whether they had eaten at that time, what they had eaten and how much fruit or vegetables the meals had contained. The amount of different foods eaten was given in portions. Next, the children were presented with additional questions about eating fruits and vegetables (e.g. whether they thought that fruits and vegetables tasted good and what their favourite fruits and vegetables were). Questions about the availability of fruits and vegetables at home were also presented. Finally, the questionnaire charted how often the children's families ate together, whether the children ate while watching TV and their free-time activities. The scale used in the questionnaire is based on the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ).

Background variables included, among others, the child's grade, gender, country of birth (reclassified), type of accommodation, weekly allowance, number of siblings, height, weight and waist circumference. Additionally, the following background information, among others, was received on the parents: highest level of education, economic activity, type of employment contract, type of accommodation, income of the household and subjective experience of the sufficiency of income. The data also include municipality of residence and school variables, as well as whether the school was an intervention or control school. The variables do not include the names of the school or municipality.

Keywords

child nutrition; children; exercise (physical activity); family life; food and nutrition; fruit; households; lifestyle and health; physical activities; sleep; vegetables; well-being (health)

Topic Classification

• Medical and health sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Physical fitness and exercise (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Children (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Individual datasets

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Roos, Eva (Samfundet Folkhälsan)
• Sundqvist, Agnetha (Samfundet Folkhälsan)
• Forss, Annette (Samfundet Folkhälsan)
• Ray, Carola (Samfundet Folkhälsan)

Time Period Covered

2006 – 2008

Collection Dates

2006 – 2008

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Helsinki, Espoo, Kirkkonummi, Sipoo, Vantaa

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Family

Universe

Third and fourth graders in Swedish-speaking schools and their parents in Uusimaa and Itä-Uusimaa in 2006

Time Method

Longitudinal: Cohort/Event-based

Sampling Procedure

Total universe/Complete enumeration

The invitation to participate in the study was sent to all 44 Swedish-speaking schools in Helsinki, Espoo, Kirkkonummi, Sipoo and Vantaa. In the end, 27 schools participated in the study. In 2006, the survey was filled out by third and fourth graders in those schools, and two years later the survey was filled out again by the same students, who were at the time fifth and sixth graders. The children's parents responded to questionnaires both years as well. Originally, the 2006 survey included schools from Porvoo, Karjaa and Kauniainen, but they were left out of the data because they did not carry out the survey in 2008. The 2008 survey was originally filled out by fourth graders as well, but they are not included in this dataset.

Responding to the survey was voluntary, and a written consent to participate in the research was acquired from the parents. The study was carried out in parts. In Spring 2006, the children's height, weight and waist circumference were measured and they responded to the Pro Children questionnaire on paper. Later, in Autumn 2006, the children responded to the general questionnaire that charted their sleep, eating habits and physical activity. The questionnaire was filled out either on paper or online, depending on the school. The children's parents also responded to their survey in the autumn. The children's measurements were taken and responding to the survey was done during school days, and someone from the research team was always present during data collection.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Self-administered questionnaire: Web-based (CAWI)

Physical measurements and tests

Field/Intervention experiment

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Technical instrument(s)

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Swedish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The questionnaires are included in the data in the following order, and the variables are named as is presented in the brackets: 1. The general questionnaire for children 2006 (questionnaire: quF3240_B2006, variable name: b06_variable number based on the questionnaire), 2. The general questionnaire for parents 2006 (questionnaire: quF3240_F2006, variable name: f06_variable number based on the questionnaire), 3. The general questionnaire for children 2008 (questionnaire: quF3240_B2008, variable name: b08_variable number based on the questionnaire), 4. The general questionnaire for parents 2008 (questionnaire: quF3240_F2008, variable name: f08_variable number based on the questionnaire), 5. Pro Children questionnaire 2006 (questionnaire: qF3240_ProChildren, variable name consists of variable number based on the questionnaire followed by the year _06), 6. Pro Children questionnaire 2008 (questionnaire: qF3240_ProChildren, variable name consists of variable number based on the questionnaire followed by the year _08).

In the 2008 parent survey, questions 37å and 37ä have been renamed in the data as follows: å:zz and ä:zy.

To prevent identification of individuals, the variables denoting the parents' year of birth (f06_4a, f06_4b, f08_6a and f08_6b) and the children's birth month ((d2_06, d2_08) have been removed from the data. The following open-ended variables have been removed for the same reason: who filled out the questionnaire in addition to parents (f06_1a, f06_2a, f08_3b, f08_4b), who else lived in the same household with the child (d8fa_06, d8fa_08), how many persons over 65 years resided in the household (f08_61j, f06_58e2), parents' country of birth (d5a_06, d5a_08, d6a_08), language (d7a_06, d7a_08), and parents' place of work and work tasks (d10b_06 d10c_06 d11b_06 d11c_06 d10b_08, d10c_08 d11b_08). The open-ended comment and feedback variables at the end of the questionnaire (f08_com, f08_70da) were also removed. The open-ended responses that remain in the data have been anonymised in case of any identifiable data. The anonymisations are marked in [square brackets]. To prevent identification, in the variables denoting municipality of residence and school the name of the municipality or school has been removed from the data.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Roos, Eva (Samfundet Folkhälsan) & Ray, Carola (Samfundet Folkhälsan): Sleep, Exercise and Eating Habits of Swedish-Speaking Finnish Children 2006 and 2008 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2019-03-22). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD3240

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Roos, Eva & Ray, Carola & Sundqvist, Agnetha (2007). Hälsoverkstaden. Fysisk aktivitet, kost och sömn bland elever i årskurs fyra och fem i finlandssvenska grundskolor i Nyland. Helsingfors: Folkhälsan.

Lehto, Reetta & Corander, Clary & Ray, Carola & Roos, Eva (2009). Perheen sosioekonomisen aseman ja perherakenteen yhteydet alakouluikäisten lasten terveellisiin elintapoihin. Sosiaalilääketieteellinen aikakauslehti 2009:46, 258-271.

Hälsoverkstaden: att i skolan arbeta för ökad fysisk aktivitet, hälsosam kost och tillräcklig sömn (2009). Red. Wiik, Anna-Lena. Helsingfors: Folkhälsan. Folkhälsans rapporter 2/2009.

Lehto, Reetta & Ray, Carola & Lahti-Koski, Marjaana & Roos, Eva (2011). Health behaviors, waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio in children. European journal of clinical nutrition. 65. 841-8. 10.1038/ejcn.2011.49.

Ray, Carola (2013). Parenting Practices, family characteristics and daily health behaviours and their changes in 10-11-year old children. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto & Folkhälsans Research Center. Kansanterveystieteen väitöskirja.

Perasto, Riikka (2014). FAMILY SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND AND CHILDREN'S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS OF CHILDREN'S PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY BASED ON THE HÄLSOVERKSTADEN STUDY. Joensuu: Itä-Suomen yliopisto. Terveystieteiden pro gradu -tutkielma.urn:nbn:fi:uef-20141020

Lehto, Reetta & Ray, Carola & Lahti-Koski, Marjaana & Roos, Eva. (2010). Meal pattern and BMI in 9-11-year-old children in Finland. Public health nutrition. 14. 1245-50. 10.1017/S1368980010003034.

Roos, L. & Roos, E. & Ray, C. (2009). Associations between sleeping habits and food consumption patterns among 10-11-year-old children in Finland. Br J Nutr. 2009 Nov;102(10):1531-7. DOI:10.1017/S0007114509990730

Ray C, Suominen S, Roos E (2009). The role of parents' sense of coherence in irregular meal pattern and food intake pattern of children aged 10-11 in Finland Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health 2009;63:1005-1009.DOI: 10.1136/jech.2008.085100