Screen time is associated with dietary intake in overweight Canadian children

Lei Shang; JiaWei Wang; Jennifer O'Loughlin; Angelo Tremblay; Marie-Ève Mathieu; Mélanie Henderson; Katherine Gray-Donald

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.04.003

Screen time is associated with dietary intake in overweight Canadian children

Prev Med Rep. 2015 Apr 14:2:265-9. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2015.04.003. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Lei Shang¹, JiaWei Wang², Jennifer O'Loughlin³, Angelo Tremblay⁴, Marie-Ève Mathieu⁵, Mélanie Henderson⁶, Katherine Gray-Donald⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Statistics and the Ministry of Education Key Lab of Hazard Assessment and Control in Special Operational Environment, School of Public Health, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China; School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
² School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
³ University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁴ Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
⁵ Department of Kinesiology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁶ Division of Endocrinology, Department of Pediatrics, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
⁷ School of Dietetics and Human Nutrition, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the relationship between screen time and dietary intake among children, and to examine this association in relation to body weight.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 630 Canadian children aged 8-10 years with at least one obese biological parent. Measurements included body mass index (BMI), screen time (television, video game, computer), physical activity (accelerometer over 7 days), and diet (three 24-hour recalls for the calculation of the Canadian Healthy Eating Index (HEI-C)). Multivariate linear regression models were used to describe the relationship between screen time (≥ 2 h/d vs. < 2 h/d) and intake of nutrients and foods among healthy weight and overweight/obese children.

Results: The overall median [interquartile range] daily screen time was 2.2 [2.4] hours and 43% of children had a BMI of ≥ 85th percentile. Longer screen time above the recommendation (≥ 2 h/d) was associated with higher intake of energy (74 kcal, SE = 35), lower intake of fiber (- 0.6 g/1000 kcal, SE = 0.2) and vegetables & fruit (- 0.3 serving/1000 kcal, SE = 0.1) among all participants and with higher estimates in the overweight subgroup. An overall lower HEI-C (- 1.6, SE = 0.8) was also observed among children with screen time of ≥ 2 h/d. Among children of < 85th BMI percentile, longer screen time was associated with lower intake of vegetables & fruit (- 0.3 serving/1000 kcal, SE = 0.1) only.

Conclusion: Screen time is associated with less desirable food choices, particularly in overweight children.

Keywords: BMI, body mass index; Child; Dietary behavior; Obesity; QUALITY, Quebec Adiposity and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth; SSB, sugar-sweetened beverage; Screen time.