ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
This article is part of the Research TopicImpact of Physical Activity on Health and Behavioral Risks in AdolescentsView all 21 articles
Ethnic and Residential Differences in Adherence to the 24-hour Movement Guidelines and Self-Reported Physical Fitness among Zhuang and Han Adolescents in Southern China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Wuhan Sports University, Wuhan, China
- 2Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
- 3Xiangnan University, Chenzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: The 24-hour movement guidelines integrate physical activity (PA), screen time, and sleep for health benefits, yet little is known about how adherence to these guidelines relates to physical fitness (PF) among adolescents, particularly in the context of ethnic and residential differences. This study examines the independent and combined associations of adhering to the 24-hour movement guidelines with self-reported PF among Han and Zhuang adolescents in southern China, while exploring potential differences by residence and ethnicity. Methods: Cross-sectional data from 6,913 adolescents were analyzed using a validated self-reported questionnaire to assess adherence to the 24-hour movement guidelines and PF components (cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiorespiratory fitness, speed/agility, muscular strength, and flexibility). Generalized linear models were used to examine associations. Results: In this sample, only 1.6% of participants met the overall guidelines. Meeting more guidelines was significantly (p < 0.001) associated with better self-reported PF indicators. The combinations containing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guideline were significantly (p < 0.05) associated with self-reported PF indicators enhancement compared to those combinations without MVPA guideline. Meeting screen time guideline was significantly (p < 0.05) associated with more self-reported PF indicators, but not in the case of meeting sleep duration guideline. Most of the results were similar for Han and Zhuang ethnicity, whereas residence differences exerted a significant impact on the relationship between adherence to "Screen only", "Sleep only", and "Screen + sleep" guideline and self-reported PF indicators. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the critical role of adhering to the 24-hour movement guidelines, mainly MVPA, in improving self-reported PF among adolescents and underscore the need to address urban-rural disparities in promoting the 24-hour movement guidelines.
Keywords: Physical Fitness, physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, movement guidelines, ethnicity, Residence
Received: 19 May 2025; Accepted: 24 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qian, Tan, Tang and Zou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yu Zou, zouyuzy@zju.edu.cn
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.