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ABSTRACT
The family environment is an important influence on the health and behaviours of children. Few large-scale datasets include detailed and objectively measured health data about multiple individuals from the same family who are living in the same household. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is a repeating, cross-sectional survey that selects two members of a household-a child and a randomly selected older member of the household aged 12 to 79 years-with at least one child aged 3 to 11 years in residence. These paired respondent records, available in the CHMS relationship files, provide unique opportunities to researchers interested in examining associations between two members of the same household for health behaviours and outcomes. A range of pairings are captured in the relationship files (e.g., parent and child, siblings, grandchild and grandparent) with birth parent-child pairs being the most common. These paired respondent data are an important analytical asset of the CHMS and enhance the research potential of the survey significantly.
Keywords paired respondents, dyad, Canada, parent-child, relationship, survey, health
Childhood is an important developmental period for establishing healthy lifestyle behaviours. The majority of Canadian children are not meeting the recommended physical activity levels for good health; a low percentage of them meet the screen time recommendations and most consume too much sugar and ultra-processed foods.1>2'3'4 As a result, children are experiencing unprecedented rates of overweight and obesity, as well as many of the diseases associated with excess weight, including type II diabetes and hypertension.5'6,7
The family environment is an important influence on the health and behaviour of children,8 and the Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) has great analytical potential for the study of the family dynamic. It collects a wide range of health information, including direct physical measures, from two members of a household where at least one child (aged 3 to 11 years) resides. The two members are a child and a second randomly selected older member of their household, such as a parent, sibling or grandparent (aged 12 to 79 years). A subsample of children linked to data for another household member, where the relationship between records is known, is a unique and underutilized asset of the CHMS. These paired data allow for the examination of associations between characteristics and physical...
