Research characteristics about the 24-h movement behaviors in children and adolescents: a scoping review

Background: Health-related behaviors, such as physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep, have variability, intensity, and intentionality within human behavior and are integrated within the 24-h movement behaviors (24-HMB). However, the current diversity of methodological approaches applied to study the 24-HMB in children and adolescents has not been explored. This scoping review aims to identify the nature and extent of the published evidence surrounding 24-HMB in this population. Methods: For this scoping review, the electronic databases MedLine (PubMed), Embase, CINHAL (EBSCO), Web of Science, and LILACS (BVS) were consulted. The searches were carried out using keywords and controlled terms in English in the title and abstract, adapting the syntax for each database. An age filter was applied from 6–18 years old and articles published from 2012–2024, without geographical or language restrictions. Only studies analyzing the integration of the three behaviors were included. The selection of studies and data extraction were done independently by two reviewers. The information was analyzed by mapping methodological elements of the studies, through summary tables and graphs. Results: A total of 5935 records were extracted from database searches. Of those, 213 met the eligibility criteria and were included for analysis. The overall study sample comprised 2,872,872 cases. The smallest study had a sample size of 37 participants, while the largest included 372,433 participants. North America had the most published studies (42%). “24-h movement guidelines” was the most used term to refer to the phenomenon. The school was the setting where most studies were conducted. Quantitative methods and cross-sectional designs predominate when investigating 24-HMB. Questionnaires were the most frequent instrument used to measure the 24-HMB, while the most reported outcome was the integrated compliance within the three behaviors. One of each five studies used compositional data analysis or isotemporal substitution models as techniques to analyze the information. Conclusion: 24-HMB is a globally known phenomenon. However, its research progress has been led by high-income countries. There is a marked polysemy when referring to 24-HMB. Therefore, there is a need to unify terminology about the 24-HMB. Since most studies were conducted using observational designs, intervention studies are required.