Associations between Screen Time and Physical Activity among Spanish Adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundExcessive time in front of a single or several screens could explain a displacement of physical activity. The present study aimed at determining whether screen-time is associated with a reduced level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in Spanish adolescents living in favorable environmental conditions.Methodology/Principal FindingsA multi-stage stratified random sampling method was used to select 3503 adolescents (12–18 years old) from the school population of Gran Canaria, Spain. MVPA, screen-time in front of television, computer, video game console and portable console was assessed in the classroom by fulfilling a standardized questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusted by a set of social-environmental variables were carried out. Forty-six percent of girls (95% CI±2.3%) and 26% of boys (95% CI±2.1%) did not meet the MVPA recommendations for adolescents. Major gender differences were observed in the time devoted to vigorous PA, video games and the total time spent on screen-based activities. Boys who reported 4 hours•week−1 or more to total screen-time showed a 64% (OR = 0.61, 95% CI, 0.44–0.86) increased risk of failing to achieve the recommended adolescent MVPA level. Participation in organized physical activities and sports competitions were more strongly associated with MVPA than screen-related behaviors.Conclusions/SignificanceNo single screen-related behavior explained the reduction of MVPA in adolescents. However, the total time accumulated through several screen-related behaviors was negatively associated with MVPA level in boys. This association could be due to lower availability of time for exercise as the time devoted to sedentary screen-time activities increases. Participation in organized physical activities seems to counteract the negative impact of excessive time in front of screens on physical activity.

How Children Use Active Videogames and the Association Between Screen Time and Physical Activity

“…Of greater concern is that those who accumulated more screen time engaged in significantly fewer MET hours of physical activity per week. This trend has been reported before 27 and highlights the existence of a sedentary inactive cohort of youth who may be at risk of developing health problems, including the metabolic syndrome. 30,31 An objective of this study was to determine the percentage of children in sixth class in Dublin who have access to electronic game consoles, including AVG consoles.…”

Physical Activity and Screen-Time Viewing Among Elementary School–Aged Children in the United States From 2009 to 2010

“…Our findings are consistent with published studies from other countries. [39][40][41][42][43] For example, a crosssectional study 43 of Canadian adolescents found no association between reported physical activity levels and the amount of time spent in screen-based sedentary behaviors. In addition, a study 40 of European youth also found no association between accelerometer-measured MVPA and the amount of time spent watching TV and showed that TV viewing and physical activity may be differently associated with adiposity and metabolic risk.…”

Associations between screen media parenting practices and children’s screen time in Lebanon

“…Several studies have examined problematic Internet use and its impact on children Hawi, 2012;Tsitsika et al, 2014). Also, screen media use negatively affects children's physical health (Colley et al, 2013;Salmon et al, 2011;Serrano-Sanchez et al, 2011;Strasburger et al, 2010;Tremblay et al, 2010), in particular obesity (Atkin et al, 2014;Laurson et al, 2008;Must et al, 2007;Stamatakis et al, 2013), diabetes (Dunstan et al, 2010;Goldfield et al, 2013), high blood pressure (Martinez-Gomez et al, 2009), higher BMI (Arcan et al, 2013;Fulton et al, 2009;Jackson et al, 2011), cardiometabolic and heart diseases (Altenburg et al, 2012;Berentzen et al, 2014;Grøntved et al, 2014;Mark and Janssen, 2008), and sleep irregularity (Thompson and Christakis, 2005).…”