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Young children's hand contact activities: An observational study via videotaping in primarily outdoor residential settings

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 16, pages 434–446 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Microlevel activity time series (MLATS) data were gathered on hand contact activities of 38 children (1–6 years old) by videotaping in primarily outdoor residential environments. The videotape recordings were then translated into text files using a specialized software called VirtualTimingDevice™. Contact frequency (contacts/h), duration per contact (s/contact), and hourly contact duration (min/h) were summarized for outdoor hand contacts with 15 distinct object/surface categories (“Animal”, “Body”, “Clothes/Towels”, “Fabric”, “Floor”, “Food”, “Footwear”, “Metal”, “Non-dietary Water”, “Paper/Wrapper”, “Plastic”, “Rock/Brick”, “Toys”, “Vegetation/Grass”, and “Wood”) and two aggregate object/surface categories (“Non-dietary objects/surfaces” and “Total objects/surfaces”). For outdoor both hand contacts with “Total objects/surfaces”, contact frequencies ranged from 229.9 to 1517.7 contacts/h, median durations/contact ranged from <1 to 5 s, and hourly contact durations ranged from 42.6 to 102.2 m/h.

The data were analyzed for significant differences in hand contact activities as a function of (1) age, (2) location, (3) gender, and (4) hand. Significant differences (P⩽0.05) were found for all four factors analyzed. Hourly contact durations with “Non-dietary objects/surfaces” and “Total objects/surfaces” increased with age (P=0.01, rs=0.42 and P=0.005, rs=0.46, respectively), while contact frequencies and hourly contact durations with “Wood” decreased with age (P=0.02, rs=−0.38 and P=0.05, rs=−0.32, respectively). Location was found to affect contact frequencies and hourly contact durations with certain objects/surfaces. For example, contact frequencies and hourly contact durations with “Fabric” were higher indoors (P=0.02 for both), while contact frequencies and hourly contact durations with “Vegetation/Grass” were higher outdoors (P=0.02 and P=0.04, respectively). Girls had longer hourly contact durations with “Footwear” (P=0.02), “Non-dietary objects/surfaces” (P=0.03), and “Total objects/surfaces” (P=0.01) than boys. The right hand had longer hourly contact durations with objects that are often manipulated with the hand (e.g., “Toys” (P=0.0002)), while the left hand had longer hourly contact durations with passively touched objects/surfaces (e.g., “Clothes/Towels” (P=0.003) and “Floor” (P=0.04)).

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Acknowledgements

The authors specially thank Kelly Naylor, Nolan Cabrera, Sandy Robertson, Kevin Lee, Amy Munninghoff, Veronica Vieira, Jessica Ramirez, and Angela Lin for their invaluable help in collecting the data presented in this paper. This project was supported by EPA STAR grant #R82936201, ORETF Study #ORF018, USEPA Contract #QT-RT-99-001182, and UPS Foundation grant #2DDA103. This research has not been subject to federal peer and policy review and therefore does not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies. No official endorsement should be inferred.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Willa AuYeung, Paloma Beamer & James O Leckie

  2. Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert A Canales

  3. Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

    Alesia C Ferguson

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  1. Willa AuYeung
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  2. Robert A Canales
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  4. Alesia C Ferguson
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  5. James O Leckie
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Correspondence to Willa AuYeung.

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AuYeung, W., Canales, R., Beamer, P. et al. Young children's hand contact activities: An observational study via videotaping in primarily outdoor residential settings. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 16, 434–446 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jes.7500480

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