Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Our office will be closed Monday, Jan 18th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We will reopen at regular business hours on Tuesday, Jan 19th.
Research Study Abstract
- Home /
- Research Database /
- Research Study Abstract
Screen-time in preschool children from the Melbourne InFANT program: Associations with other early life energyrelated behaviors
- Presented on May 21, 2014
Purpose: Preschoolers engage in more screen-time than recommended, yet associations with other energy-balance related behaviors (EBRB) is unknown.
Methods: Data were from 181 control participants in the cluster-randomised controlled Melbourne Infant Feeding, Activity and Nutrition Trial (InFANT) Program. Daily television, computer game, and hand-held e-game use were assessed by parent-report at child age 3.5yrs and summed to provide daily screen-time. Other EBRBs assessed at 9 and 18mths and at 3.5yrs included physical activity (accelerometry; not assessed at 9mths) and outdoor time (parent-report), fruit, vegetable, sweet snack and savoury snack intake (3x24hr diet recall) and zBMI (measured). Associations were assessed using linear regression with bootstrapping and controlling for clustering.
Results: With only ~25% of children reported to use hand-held e-games and 5% computer games, these outcomes were not considered separately. Boys and girls spent an average of 118 and 117min/day, respectively, watching television and 134 and 122min/day in total screen-time with no significant sex differences. Cross-sectional associations with television viewing were shown for outdoor time (B=0.29, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.54) at 3.5 years of age. This association was maintained in the multivariable model (B=0.43, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.73) and observed in the multivariable model for total screen-time also (B=0.52, 95% CI: 0.18, 0.85). Television viewing (positive) and fruit intake (negative) at earlier ages showed longitudinal associations with preschoolers’ television viewing and screen-time.
Conclusions: Findings indicate some clustering of EBRBs and point to potential early life indicators of individuals at risk of high preschool screen-time.
Presented at
ISBNPA 2014 Annual Conference