Sedentary behaviour in youth

Abstract

The purpose of this review is to describe the amount of time children spend in sedentary behaviour and to determine if there are specific factors that associate with sedentary behaviour in children. The following search terms were used to identify relevant articles: sedentary behaviour, inactivity, television, computer, video games, small screen, sitting, prevalence, patterns, correlates, factors and determinants. The databases used to conduct the search included PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) and Academic Search Premier. The studies reviewed were limited to those that sampled children (2-18 years), were written in English and used a measure of sedentary behaviour as the dependent variable. Several studies reported the time spent watching television or the proportion of children at or above a threshold for television viewing (eg, ≥3 h/day). Among the accelerometer studies included, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey is the largest and reported ∼6.1, 7.5 and 8.0 h/day mean sedentary time in children 6-11, 12-15 and 16-19 years old, respectively. Taken together, the existing literature across the world indicates a slightly higher level of sedentary behaviour in older children. Higher levels of sedentary behaviour were also reported in non-white children, children from lower socioeconomic status background and children from households with more access to televisions/computers. Lower levels of sedentary behaviour were reported in children whose parents have rules/limitations on screen time.

Drastic increases in overweight and obesity from 1981 to 2010 and related risk factors: results from the Barbados Children’s Health and Nutrition Study

“…In the Netherlands, children 4-13 years old had significantly greater risk of OWOB if they watched TV for >1·5 h/d, used a computer for >30 min/d, or had two or more TV in the household (41) . The media access findings of the BCHNS are similar to the studies relating bedroom TV access and household availability of media to technology usage and OWOB (43,44) , but need to be better studied and defined.…”

Sedentary behavior based on screen time: prevalence and associated sociodemographic factors in adolescents

“…Different studies around the world have shown that exposure to screen time is significantly different between boys and girls [7][8][9][11][12][13] . The use of VG and PC was higher among boys in studies conducted in the United States 11 and South Korea 12 .…”

“…Pate et al 7 reviewed articles that sought factors associated with sedentary behavior between 1990 and 2010 and found that non-white and low economic level young people dedicated longer time on screenbased sedentary behavior.…”

“…Sociodemographic factors are associated with the time that adolescents spend sitting in front of these electronic 7,[11][12][13] . For example, in a study of European adolescents, the time sitting in front of the TV was higher in adolescents with worse socioeconomic indicators.…”

It’s A-bout Time: Detailed Patterns of Physical Activity in Obese Adolescents Participating in a Lifestyle Intervention

“…2 Physical activity and sedentariness are independent, and active adolescents (achieving recommended 60 minutes of activity) can also be highly sedentary. 3 Thus, interventions are needed to improve both physical activity and sedentary behavior, and adolescence has been identified as a critical period to intervene. 4 One such intervention was Curtin University's Activity, Food, and Attitudes Program (CAFAP), which was a community-based, family-centred lifestyle intervention focused on increasing physical activity and decreasing sedentary behavior and eating behaviors of overweight and obese adolescents.…”