What Shapes Singaporean Children’s Lifestyle Health Habits? Insights from Singapore’s GUSTO Study
- Alastair Hunt
- Mar 30
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 31
What do ten-year-olds eat? How much do they move? And who or what influences these habits? These questions lie at the heart of a major study conducted in Singapore, where researchers explored how lifestyle behaviours cluster together - and what factors predict healthier routines - in children from 2024's the Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes (GUSTO) cohort.
As ever, please talk to your doctor or medical practitioner most familiar with your medical history before implementing any changes in diet, exercise or lifestyle, especially if you are under treatment. Links to all studies at bottom of page.
Mapping Children’s Lifestyles
The researchers followed nearly 400 children aged 10 and asked them to track their food intake, physical activity, sleep, and screen use across weekdays and weekends. The data revealed three major lifestyle patterns:
The Balanced Pattern. This group ticked nearly all the boxes for a health-promoting lifestyle. They:
Ate more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy.
Spent less time on screens, especially while eating or travelling.
Were often involved in leisure sports outside of school (such as swimming or football) and engaged in active transport (like walking or cycling to get around).
Took part in educational activities beyond school, such as reading or enrichment classes- activities that appeared to reduce screen time.
The High Snacks and Processed Food Pattern. These children had high intakes of:
Sweet and savoury snacks like crisps, biscuits, and chocolates.
Processed foods such as nuggets, sausages, and instant noodles. Screen-viewing while eating was strongly associated with this group. Girls were more likely than boys to fall into this category, suggesting potential cultural or behavioural trends in eating habits and media use.
The Mixed Pattern. This pattern included both healthy and unhealthy behaviours. Children in this group:
Were physically active, often walking or playing sports.
Yet also consumed more fast food and sugar-sweetened drinks.
Ate fewer vegetables overall. This blend of activity and poor dietary choices suggests that movement alone isn’t always enough to offset other habits.
Who Is More Likely to Lead a Healthy Lifestyle?
The study revealed that girls were more likely than boys to follow the “balanced” pattern. This may be partly due to girls having better nutrition knowledge and greater interest in healthy eating as they grow older. Boys, while often more physically active, tended to spend more time on screens and had less balanced diets.
Another key factor was parental education. Children whose mothers and fathers held higher educational qualifications were significantly more likely to follow healthier lifestyles. This reflects broader trends linking socioeconomic status with access to health-promoting knowledge, routines, and food choices.
The mother’s own diet also played a notable role. Children of mothers with higher diet quality scores were more likely to follow the “balanced” pattern - supporting the idea that parents serve as both providers and role models in shaping eating habits.
The Role of Family, Grandparents and Helpers
Interestingly, several expected family influences - such as having siblings or the physical activity levels of the mother - did not appear to impact lifestyle patterns. Similarly, parenting styles and emotional bonding (as perceived by the child) weren’t directly linked to healthy or unhealthy habits at this age.
However, one finding stood out: children cared for by both parents and domestic helpers were less likely to follow the “balanced” pattern, and more likely to follow the “mixed” one. This could be due to a range of factors, such as inconsistent dietary routines or screen use policies when multiple caregivers are involved. The study didn’t examine how domestic helpers influence daily routines, but this is an emerging area worth exploring - especially in high-income urban contexts where helper care is common.
Grandparents, who are also often involved in caregiving in Asian families, were not examined in detail in this particular study. However, past research suggests they may influence dietary habits by offering more indulgent foods or being less strict with screen time. Read more on this subject here.
The GUSTO team has previously noted that caregiving roles - whether by parents, helpers, or grandparents - can shape children’s exposure to routines, food environments and movement opportunities.
Screen Time and Its Hidden Cost
Perhaps one of the more striking findings was the impact of screen-viewing during meals or while travelling. Children who watched screens while eating or drinking were significantly more likely to follow the unhealthier “high snacks and processed food” pattern. Similarly, screen-viewing while travelling - such as using a phone or tablet on public transport - was negatively associated with the healthier “balanced” pattern. These screen habits may encourage mindless snacking, reduce awareness of hunger cues and displace time that could otherwise be spent moving or engaging socially.
In general, boys in the study spent more time on screens than girls, which may partly explain their lower adherence to the balanced lifestyle. Although the study didn’t specify exact screen time durations, previous research in the same cohort has found that excessive screen use tends to cluster with other unhealthy behaviours, such as lower fruit and vegetable intake and higher consumption of processed foods.
Weight, Diet and the Bigger Picture
Surprisingly, a child’s weight status did not strongly predict which lifestyle pattern they followed. This could be due to the presence of public health programmes in Singapore targeting overweight children, leading to more balanced lifestyles despite their weight. It’s also possible that 10-year-olds are entering a phase of greater independence, where peer influence and personal choice start to shape habits more than direct parental control.
Final Thoughts
The GUSTO study provides a rare, detailed look at how diet, activity, and screen use come together in the daily lives of children. It also reveals that lifestyle choices aren’t made in isolation - they are shaped by family dynamics, education, culture and even the devices we use while eating or travelling.
What can we take away? Efforts to encourage healthy habits in children need to go beyond promoting sports or banning sugary drinks. They should support families - especially those with fewer resources - equip parents and caregivers with practical tools, and engage children themselves in building routines that balance screen use with activity and learning.
Singapore’s children are growing up in a fast-paced, urban environment filled with both opportunity and challenge. With thoughtful, evidence-based support, we can help them grow up healthy - one balanced habit at a time.
For most people, busy parents especially, improving health is about finding motivation and prioritising self-care with an ultimate goal of taking action. If you want to take effective and targeted steps that fit into your unique lifestyle, The Whole Health Practice is here to help.
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Stay Healthy,
Alastair
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Related Resources and Studies
The study in review... Tan SYX, Chia A, Tai BC, Toh JY, Colega M, Padmapriya N, Setoh P, Kee MZL, Yuan WL, Lee YS, Loo BKG, Yap FKP, Tan KH, Godfrey KM, Chong YS, Eriksson J, Müller-Riemenschneider F, Chong MF. Correlates of lifestyle patterns among children in Singapore aged 10 years: the growing up in Singapore towards healthy outcomes (GUSTO) study. BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 7;24(1):2147. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19669-2. PMID: 39112995; PMCID: PMC11308686.
Aishworiya R, Magiati I, Phua D, Daniel LM, Shek LP, Chong YS, Gluckman PD, Meaney MJ, Law EC. Are There Bidirectional Influences Between Screen Time Exposure and Social Behavioral Traits in Young Children? J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2022 Aug 1;43(6):362-369. doi: 10.1097/DBP.0000000000001069. Epub 2022 May 17. PMID: 35580310.
Tan BQM, Hee JM, Yow KS, Sim X, Asano M, Chong MF. Feeding-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices among Grandparents in Singapore. Nutrients. 2019 Jul 23;11(7):1696. doi: 10.3390/nu11071696. PMID: 31340578; PMCID: PMC6683024.
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