The Impact of Digital Screen Time on Dietary Habits and Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Background: Over the last few decades, the time children spend using electronic devices has increased significantly. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of screen time on dietary behaviors and physical activity in children and adolescents. Methods: An online survey was conducted among parents of preschool and school-aged children during the COVID-19 lockdown in Poland. There were 3127 surveys used in the analysis. Results: Survey responses referred to 1662 (53%) boys and 1465 (47%) girls, with a mean age of 12.1 ± 3.4 years. During a routine weekday, most children (71%) spent >4 h on educational activities using electronic devices, and 43% of children spent 1–2 h using devices for recreational purposes. The majority of children (89%) were exposed to screens during meals, and ate snacks between main meals (77%). There was an association between screen time and the exposure to screens during meals, and between screen time and time spent performing physical activity. Conclusions: This study revealed that the majority of children were exposed to screens during meals, which is a risk factor of obesity. The promotion of the judicious use of digital devices and healthy dietary habits associated with the use of screens may be an important component of obesity prevention strategies.

Screen time and its correlates among children aged 3–10 years during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: a community-based cross-sectional study

“…12 More than 80% of preschool children use screen devices more than the recommended time, 13 whereas most of the children used their devices during meals. 6 The average sleeping time of children before the pandemic has decreased by more than 1 hour compared with the previous century. 14 Teaching-learning activities in schools of Nepal 15 have forcefully changed classroom teaching to screendependent online education, which continued for a few months each year with the rise of COVID-19 cases.…”

“… 12 More than 80% of preschool children use screen devices more than the recommended time, 13 whereas most of the children used their devices during meals. 6 The average sleeping time of children before the pandemic has decreased by more than 1 hour compared with the previous century. 14 …”

“…3 Screen time is associated with the risk of obesity/ adiposity, higher energy intake, behavioural problems, anxiety, hyperactivity and poor attention. [4][5][6] This has raised concerns over a child's cardiometabolism and other medical outcomes, including emerging screenrelated addictive behaviour known as screen dependence disorders. 7 8 Findings have also shown a link between overall screen time and depression and suicidal behaviour among adolescents.…”

“…Recent evidence shows that on average, people aged 16–24 years old in the UK are now spending more time on media and communications than sleeping 3. Screen time is associated with the risk of obesity/adiposity, higher energy intake, behavioural problems, anxiety, hyperactivity and poor attention 4–6. This has raised concerns over a child’s cardiometabolism and other medical outcomes, including emerging screen-related addictive behaviour known as screen dependence disorders 7 8.…”

The Mediating Effects of Food Content Watching Motivation on the between Watching Time and Nutrition Quotient of Adolescents in Seoul, Korea

“…More exploratory studies are needed because the relationship between the frequency of watching food-related content, watching motivation, and diet has been reported [ 25 , 27 ]. A recent study also reported that media watching affects adolescents’ dietary habits, and that wise use of media is necessary to form healthy eating habits [ 36 ]. However, the relationship between food-related content, among various contents types, and adolescents’ eating habits has not been studied yet.…”