Relationship among screen time, frequency of overweight and sleep habits in children

Abstract

Introduction: Childhood obesity is considered a challenging public health situation. Numerous environmental factors are related to the development of childhood weight excess (WE), among them excessive screen time. Objectives: To analyze the possible relationship between the time spent using digital media and sleep disorders and the effect on children's weight. Methods: 98 children (54 boys and 44 girls) from public and private schools, aged 3 to 9 years were evaluated. According to body mass index (BMI), children were classified as normal weight (EUT), and the weight excess (WE) group was formed by children with OW (overweight), OB (obesity) or SOB (severe obesity). A questionnaire was applied to analyze children's sleep and screen use. Results: In the entire sample, EUT were 65.3% and 32.6% WE (OW: 14.3%; OB: 15.3%; SOB: 3.1%). Most children (55.1%) accessed pre-sleep media; in the group with WE, this use was reported by 46.9%. Sleep delay was observed in 26.1% of children with WE. Media usage was more than 2 h/day in 42.3% (40.4% in EUT and 46.1% in WE). Media access was free for 59.1% of children. There were no significant differences in all analyses. Conclusion: High frequency of overweight children was observed. In addition, there was a high frequency of inappropriate use of screens and digital media. In spite of that, there was no relationship between these aspects and the presence of excess weight.