Decreasing screen time and/or increasing exercise only helps in certain situations for young adults
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Ronald Chow
Abstract
There seems to be a lack of consensus about whether greater screen time is highly correlated to greater body mass index (BMI) (and lower physical exercise). What has been proven is that the vast majority of children and adolescents spend a “lot of time” indulging in screen-based leisure. The aim of this study was to investigate, among young adults, screen time and physical activity/fitness. A questionnaire was developed and circulated to young adults via media networks (i.e. email, social media platforms, etc.). There was no geographic restriction, and the survey was designed in English. Two people did not consent to the study, while 262 consented and completed the survey. The vast majority of participants resided in Canada, with a noticeable minority living in the United Kingdom and the United States. Of the participants, 46% were 18 or 19 years old, 30% were between the ages of 20 and 22 years and the remaining 24% were split evenly between the age cohorts of under 18 years and over 22 years. Four of 262 (2%) participants did not disclose their sex, 66% reported as female and 32% noted they were male. The BMI ranged from 14.4525 to 39.5325, and had a mean of 22.8155 and standard deviation of 4.1939. Among people who spent less than 4 h of exercise a week, those who spent more than 5 h on screen time based activities had a higher BMI (p = 0.0032) of 23.8151 vs. 21.7879 for those who spent less than 5 h. There was no relation between screen time and BMI among people who spent more than 4 h of exercise a week (p = 0.6209). Between exercise groups who spent less than 5 h of screen time a day, there was no relation between hours of exercise and BMI (p = 0.1242). There seems to exist a trend that among those who spend more than 5 h of screen time a day, less exercise is related to higher BMI (p = 0.0510) – 23.8151 vs. 22.4361. Healthy lifestyle choices such as fewer screen time hours and more exercise can be beneficial to young adults. Among certain groups, such as those who spend a lot of time on screens and those who do not exercise regularly, the benefits of more exercise and less screen time, respectively, are much more noticeable.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all of those who participated in the questionnaire. Additionally, I would like to thank members of the Infinitas Research Group for their support and assistance in circulating the survey link: Michael Borean, Drew Hollenberg, Jaclyn Viehweger, Tharani Anpalagan, Anna Rzepka, Victoria Trasente, Logan Midroni, Cooper Midroni, Neal Ganguli, Ray Kang, Rahul Parekh, Sam Goh, Adam Murai, Michael Lam, Wesley Ng and Cynthia Ho.
References
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Articles in the same Issue
- Original Articles
- Associations between body weight status, psychological well-being and disordered eating with intuitive eating among Malaysian undergraduate university students
- Using the Internet to access health-related information: results from a nationally representative sample of New Zealand secondary school students
- Differences and similarities in medicine use, perceptions and sharing among adolescents in two different educational settings
- Disparities in obesity prevalence and obesity-related behaviors among adolescents in Trinidad and Tobago
- Decreasing screen time and/or increasing exercise only helps in certain situations for young adults
- Assessment of anxiety in adolescents involved in a study abroad program: a prospective study
- Assessment of health literacy with the Newest Vital Sign and its correlation with body mass index in female adolescent students
- Causative factors for sexual and reproductive health status of pregnant adolescent girls in urban communities of Lagos, Nigeria
- A comparison of positive youth development against depression and suicidal ideation in youth from Hong Kong and the Netherlands
- Using theory of planned behavior for prediction of delivery mode among pregnant women: a theory-based cross-sectional research
- Relationships between metabolic profile, hypertension and uric acid with cardiometabolic risk in adolescents with abdominal obesity: impact of geodemographic factors on the prevalence of abdominal obesity
- Increased risk of sadness and suicidality among victims of bullying experiencing additional threats to physical safety
- Association between sleep quality and quality of life among students: a cross sectional study
- Menstrual irregularity and use of oral contraceptives in female adolescent athletes in Swedish National Sports High Schools
- Exploration of brushing behavior among university students in Iran: a qualitative research
- Vigorous physical activity, perceived stress, sleep and mental health among university students from 23 low- and middle-income countries
- Cross-sectional comparison of age-related changes in the quadriceps femoris in Japanese basketball players
- Knowledge, attitude and practice towards eating and physical activity among primary school children in Brunei: a cross-sectional study
