Correlates of Total Sedentary Time and Screen Time in 9–11 Year-Old Children around the World: The International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment

Abstract

PurposePreviously, studies examining correlates of sedentary behavior have been limited by small sample size, restricted geographic area, and little socio-cultural variability. Further, few studies have examined correlates of total sedentary time (SED) and screen time (ST) in the same population. This study aimed to investigate correlates of SED and ST in children around the world.MethodsThe sample included 5,844 children (45.6% boys, mean age = 10.4 years) from study sites in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Finland, India, Kenya, Portugal, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Child- and parent-reported behavioral, household, and neighborhood characteristics and directly measured anthropometric and accelerometer data were obtained. Twenty-one potential correlates of SED and ST were examined using multilevel models, adjusting for sex, age, and highest parental education, with school and study site as random effects. Variables that were moderately associated with SED and/or ST in univariate analyses (p<0.10) were included in the final models. Variables that remained significant in the final models (p<0.05) were considered correlates of SED and/or ST.ResultsChildren averaged 8.6 hours of daily SED, and 54.2% of children failed to meet ST guidelines. In all study sites, boys reported higher ST, were less likely to meet ST guidelines, and had higher BMI z-scores than girls. In 9 of 12 sites, girls engaged in significantly more SED than boys. Common correlates of higher SED and ST included poor weight status, not meeting physical activity guidelines, and having a TV or a computer in the bedroom.ConclusionsIn this global sample many common correlates of SED and ST were identified, some of which are easily modifiable (e.g., removing TV from the bedroom), and others that may require more intense behavioral interventions (e.g., increasing physical activity). Future work should incorporate these findings into the development of culturally meaningful public health messages.

Relationships between active school transport and adiposity indicators in school-age children from low-, middle- and high-income countries

“…Second, despite the large internationally diverse sample included, none of the countries had a nationally representative sample; hence the results may not be generalizable to country sites. 44 Third, AST was defined based only on the 'main' mode of transport for the journey 'to school'. Thus we assumed that both journeys were the same.…”

Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior and the Risk of Overweight and Obesity in School-Aged Children

“…To date, studies have 66 consistently found that physical activity is associated with obesity indicators independent of sedentary 67 time (Ekelund et al, 2014;Katzmarzyk et al, 2015). However, the association between objective 68 sedentary time and obesity markers independent of physical activity is less clear (Cliff et al, 2016; 69 Ekelund et al, 2014).…”

Screen time between Portuguese and Brazilian children: a cross-cultural study

“…There has been an increased interest in research related to sedentary behavior (SB) and its correlates around the world 1,2 . SB, typically defined as activities that do not increase energy expenditure substantially above the resting level (≤1.5 METs) while in a sitting or reclining posture such as sleeping, sitting, lying down, and watching television, and other forms of screenbased entertainment 3 , has been measured by accelerometry as an objective approach and self -or proxy-report questionnaires, as a subjective approach 4 .…”

“…In parallel, approximately 60% of Portuguese children aged11-year-old watched TV for ≥2h on weekdays 12 , while 12.2% of children aged between 6-13 year-oldspent less than 1.5 hours watching TV and playing video games, either on weekdays or weekends 13 . Thus, we target to contribute in this field of knowledge, pointing out differences between distant countries geographically and culturally that should be considered whereas worldwide studies are recently paying attention on the increased prevalence of ST among children and adolescents [14][15][16] and it has been reported with negative health outcomes 1,[17][18][19] . Therefore, this study aimed to verify differences in ST (i.e.…”