Screen Time and Physical Activity in Overweight and Obese Students

Abstract

Background: One of the most important threats for children's health status is being overweight and obesity, and related causes such as screen time prevalence. Prevalence of being overweight and obesity in children is associated with health risk consequences in adulthood. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of screen time and physical activity in overweight and obese students. Patients and Methods: In this cross sectional descriptive study we randomly selected 302 students, from all districts of Qazvin, who's relative body mass index (RBMIs) were above the 85th percentile. Their screen time and physical activity prevalence were assessed with two separate techniques (self-report and parent-report). Pearson correlation test and regression analysis were done to examine the association between RBMI, screen time and physical activity. Results: Mean screen time in boys was more than girls, in both overweight screen time-self report technique (ST-SRT: 1.93 ± 0.24 vs. 1.26 ± 0.44, ST-PRT: 3.4 ± 0.22 vs. 2.1 ± 0.15) and obese subjects (ST-SRT: 1.88 ± 0.31 vs. 1.37 ± 0.49, ST-PRT: 3.2 ± 0.32 vs. 2.3 ± 0.34) yet overweight subjects had less total screen time than obese individuals (P < 0.05). Pearson correlations with one-tailed test indicated that screen time had a significant association with RBMI. In addition, there was a significant association between the two techniques of screen time and physical activity measurements. The model of regression for screen time and RBMI was significant (F = 45, P = 0.000, R 2 = 0.42) and screen time explained about 16% of variance in RBMI (B = 0.021, SEB = 0.004, β = 0.325). Conclusions: Our research determined an association between screen time, physical activity and RBMI. Screen time was a prominent predictor of RBMI in children. It is important for health workers to decrease screen time of children to prevent the prevalence of being overweight and obesity.

Gender, sexual orientation and health behaviors in the ELSA-Brasil cohort

“…Men and boys have been shown to spend more time in front of a screen than women and girls (Hosseinzadeh & Ahmadabad, 2015;Husárová et al, 2015), which is partially in agreement with the results of the present study in which heterosexual women were found to be better protected against this health-related risk behavior. Hosseinzadeh and Ahmadabad (2015) reported that, from an early age, parents in Iran tend to reduce girls' access to games compared to the access permitted to boys, which may go towards justifying, at least in part, the lesser exposure of girls to long periods of screen time. There are no studies on this health behavior as a function of sexual orientation, further reinforcing the importance of the present study and justifying the recommendation for future studies on this subject.…”

“…Although relatively better protected with respect to the other behaviors analyzed, this group was at a greater risk insofar as the practice of leisure-time physical activity is concerned. A major difference between the sexes has been reported, with women practicing less physical activity than men (Azevedo et al, 2007;Hosseinzadeh & Ahmadabad, 2015;Saffer et al, 2013;Salles-Costa et al, 2003). As in the case of smoking and alcohol consumption, one explanation for these differences may be the association between the practice of physical activity and male norms (De Visser & McDonnell, 2012).…”

“…A rare study, conducted in the United Kingdom and dealing with sleep and sexual orientation (Rahman & Silber, 2000), found that homosexual men and women sleep less than heterosexuals and that heterosexual women sleep more than homosexual women. Leisure screen time, a very recent subject within the realm of health behaviors, was found to be greater in males in widely varying cultural settings such as Iraq and Slovakia (Hosseinzadeh & Ahmadabad, 2015;Husárová et al, 2015).…”

“…More recently, in different social contexts, the influence of gender on other health-related risk behaviors has been investigated, including sleep duration (Burgard & Ailshire, 2013;Burgard et al, 2010;Chen et al, 2005;Dzaja et al, 2005) and leisure screen time (Hosseinzadeh & Ahmadabad, 2015;Husárová et al, 2015). A rare study, conducted in the United Kingdom and dealing with sleep and sexual orientation (Rahman & Silber, 2000), found that homosexual men and women sleep less than heterosexuals and that heterosexual women sleep more than homosexual women.…”

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Physical Activity in Nursing and Midwifery Students

“…There are some mediators that affect physical activity such as knowledge and attitude. Some barriers such as lack of time and bad environments may impede doing physical activities (6,7). Nursing and midwifery students, candidates for bachelor of science, should pass 138 credit units in four years.…”