The purpose of this study was to compare the degree to which children and adolescents with and without visual impairments (VIs) met national physical activity, screen-time, and sleep guidelines. This observational, cross-sectional analysis of the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health focused on children (age 6-12 yr) and adolescents (age 13-17 yr) with and without VIs. The sample included 241 (weighted n = 472,127) and 17,610 (weighted n = 28,249,833) children, and 255 (weighted n = 505,401) and 17,417 (weighted n = 20,071,557) adolescents with and without VIs, respectively. Chi-square statistics were computed to examine the degree to which participants with and without VIs met health-behavior guidelines. Children (p = .02) with VIs were less likely to meet screen-time guidelines, but adolescents with VIs were not (p = .87). VI status was not associated with the likelihood of meeting physical activity or sleep guidelines (p < .05). Low numbers of children and adolescents with and without VIs meeting health-behavior guidelines warrant targeted interventions aimed at enhancing engagement.
Keywords: NSCH; blindness; population-based.