Parental Internet Use and Lifestyle Factors as Correlates of Prolonged Screen Time of Children in Japan: Results From the Super Shokuiku School Project

Abstract

BackgroundProlonged screen time (ST), which includes TV viewing and gaming on smartphones and computers, is linked to poor health. Our aim was to explore the associations between school children with prolonged ST and parental internet use (IU) and lifestyles in Japan.MethodsChildren aged 6 to 13 years from the Super Shokuiku School Project, were surveyed using questionnaires in 2016. The survey assessed the grade, sex, and lifestyle of 1,659 children and parental internet use (IU) and lifestyle using Breslow’s seven health behaviors. IU consisted of internet surfing and gaming on personal computers (PC), smartphones, or consoles. Three or more hours of ST was defined as prolonged ST, and its correlates were analyzed using logistic regression.ResultsOf all, 643 (38.8%) children spent ≥2 hours/day of ST on a week day, whilst 153 (9.2%) children spent ≥3 hours/day. Prolonged ST was significantly associated with children in higher grade (odds ratio [OR] 1.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20–2.51), boys (OR 2.16; 95% CI, 1.49–3.14), skipping breakfast (OR 1.88; 95% CI, 1.05–3.35), late bedtime (OR 1.80; 95% CI, 1.15–2.82), physical inactivity (OR 1.79; 95% CI, 1.12–2.87), father’s IU ≥2 hours/day (OR 2.35; 95% CI, 1.52–3.63), mother’s prolonged IU ≥2 hours/day (OR 2.55; 95% CI, 1.43–4.52), mothers with unhealthy behaviors (OR 1.81; 95% CI, 1.05–3.13), no rule setting governing screen time (OR 2.41; 95% CI, 1.63–3.58), and mothers with full-time employment (OR 1.95; 95% CI, 1.06–3.64).ConclusionsProlonged ST among Japanese children was strongly associated with parental IU, no set rules for ST, and mother’s unhealthy lifestyles. To reduce children’s ST, parental engagement is warranted in the intervention strategy.

“If You Let Them, They Will Be on It 24 Hours a Day”: Qualitative Study Conducted in the United States Exploring Brazilian Immigrant Mothers’ Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Screen Time Behaviors of Their Preschool-Age Children (Preprint)

“…Consistent with previous research [10,18,28,[64][65][66][67][68][69][70], mothers participating in the current study used several parenting practices such as monitoring time and content, setting limits and having rules, and prompting child to do something else to manage their preschool children's ST. Previous research suggests that parental monitoring, especially maternal monitoring, of ST is associated with less ST for children [56,62].…”

“…This is important as research shows that children have increased ST when parents have ST themselves [50,[61][62][63][64]. A qualitative study conducted in the U.K. found that children whose parents engaged in ST with them had more ST than children whose parents prioritized and engaged with them in non-SV behaviors for relaxation and family time [36].…”

Association of short sleep duration and long media use with caries in school children

“…It has a higher number of dual‐income households (53.9%) than the national average (45.4%), leading to household incomes that are higher (55 686 US $) than the national average (50 163 US $) . The results of this project have been published in other studies …”

“…Our study suggests that less than an hour for all media, not only television is recommended. A long time spent viewing or using media delays the time at which the child goes to bed . The excitement generated by viewing media before going to bed may cause a predominant state of the sympathetic activity and reduce the production of saliva, which induces dental caries.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that parental lifestyle factors are significantly associated with the lifestyle of the children. For example, maternal obesity is associated with obesity in the child, and parental Internet use time is associated with the child’s media time . Sekine et al pointed out that children of mothers working full‐time were more likely to watch television for longer hours, have frequent snacks, and go to bed late .…”