Adherence to healthy behaviours promotes several health benefits in preschool children, including executive function (EF). Recently, the predictive power of the 24-hour movement behaviour (24 h MB) composition on health outcomes has been evidenced; however, its relationship with EF in preschoolers is unknown. Thus, the present study had two objectives: (1) to analyse the associations between the 24 h MB composition and EF of preschoolers; and (2) to investigate the theoretical changes in EF when time in different movement behaviours is reallocated. This cross-sectional study was carried out with 123 preschoolers (3-5 years old) of low socioeconomic status. Physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour were assessed using an accelerometer for 7 days, sleep time was obtained through interviews with parents, and EF was measured using the Early Tool Box battery. To verify the association between 24 h MB and EF, compositional data analysis was used, and for time reallocation, compositional isotemporal substitution analysis was utilized. It was observed that the 24 h MB composition was positively associated with EF (p < .0001; R² = 0.34), and that reallocating 5, 10, 15 or 20 min of the time spent on sleep and light PA to moderate-to-vigorous PA, respectively, was associated with significant improvements in EF (p < .05). These findings provide hitherto unseen insight into the relationship between 24 h MB and EF in preschool children, and warrants consideration for researchers and practitioners seeking to improve EF and PA in preschool children.
Keywords: Movement behaviour; composition analysis; executive function; preschoolers.