Screen Time as a Mechanism Through Which Cumulative Risk is Related to Child Socioemotional and Developmental Outcomes in Early Childhood

Aim or objectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of behavioural interventions that report sedentary behaviour outcomes during early childhood.DesignSystematic review and meta-analysis.Data sourcesAcademic Search Complete, CINAHL Complete, Global Health, MEDLINE Complete, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus with Full Text and EMBASE electronic databases were searched in March 2016.Eligibility criteria for selecting studiesInclusion criteria were: (1) published in a peer-reviewed English language journal; (2) sedentary behaviour outcomes reported; (3) randomised controlled trial (RCT) study design; and (4) participants were children with a mean age of ≤5.9 years and not yet attending primary/elementary school at postintervention.Results31 studies were included in the systematic review and 17 studies in the meta-analysis. The overall mean difference in screen time outcomes between groups was −17.12 (95% CI −28.82 to −5.42) min/day with a significant overall intervention effect (Z=2.87, p=0.004). The overall mean difference in sedentary time between groups was −18.91 (95% CI −33.31 to −4.51) min/day with a significant overall intervention effect (Z=2.57, p=0.01). Subgroup analyses suggest that for screen time, interventions of ≥6 months duration and those conducted in a community-based setting are most effective. For sedentary time, interventions targeting physical activity (and reporting changes in sedentary time) are more effective than those directly targeting sedentary time.Summary/conclusionsDespite heterogeneity in study methods and results, overall interventions to reduce sedentary behaviour in early childhood show significant reductions, suggesting that this may be an opportune time to intervene.Trial registration numberCRD42015017090.

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Joint physical-activity/screen-time trajectories during early childhood: socio-demographic predictors and consequences on health-related quality-of-life and socio-emotional outcomes

International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity ◽

10.1186/s12966-019-0816-3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Borja del Pozo-Cruz ◽

Francisco Perales ◽

Phil Parker ◽

Chris Lonsdale ◽

Michael Noetel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Early Childhood ◽

Screen Time ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Demographic Predictors ◽

Emotional Outcomes ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

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Early childhood cumulative risk is associated with decreased global brain measures, cortical thickness, and cognitive functioning in school‐age children

Developmental Psychobiology ◽

10.1002/dev.21956 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Emma Chad‐Friedman ◽

Morgan Botdorf ◽

Tracy Riggins ◽

Lea R. Dougherty

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Cognitive Functioning ◽

Cortical Thickness ◽

Cumulative Risk ◽

School Age Children ◽

School Age ◽

Global Brain

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Screen Use During Meals Among Young Children: Exploration of Associated Variables

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina55100688 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 55 (10) ◽

pp. 688 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Jusienė ◽

Urbonas ◽

Laurinaitytė ◽

Rakickienė ◽

Breidokienė ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Childhood ◽

Behavioral Problems ◽

Screen Time ◽

Child Behavior Checklist ◽

Emotional And Behavioral Problems ◽

Junk Food ◽

Health Providers ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Child Age ◽

Screen Use

Background and Objectives: There is evidence that eating meals or snacks while watching TV is an obesogenic factor. Moreover, the patterns of TV and other screen use during meals begin early and persist. However, there are only a few studies to date which address the prevalence and predictors of young children’s exposure to screen during mealtimes. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence and the associated factors of screen use during meals in early childhood. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional survey was conducted in Lithuania. Data of 847 children aged 2 to 5 years old (51.5% boys) were analyzed in this study. Parents completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1½-5) and reported their children’s daily screen time, exposure to background TV, screen use during child’s meals, child and parental height and weight, and sociodemographic data. Results: More than half of children were exposed to screen during meals: 33.7% occasionally, several times per week or per month, and 22%—daily or during every meal. Overall daily screen time, background TV, consumption of junk food, child age, and emotional and behavioral problems were related to mealtime screen use (all associations significant at p < 0.01). Longer daily screen time (OR 1.01; 95% CI 1.00–1.01), more background TV (OR 1.26; 95% CI 1.10–1.45), and elder child age (OR 1.02; 95% CI 1.00–1.03) were significant predictors of occasional use of screen during meals. Also, longer daily screen time (OR 0.99; 95% CI 0.98–0.99), background TV (OR 0.78; 95% CI 0.66–0.91) together with no siblings’ status of a child (OR 0.42; 95% CI 0.25–0.69) increased the probability that children were fed in front of screens daily. Conclusions: This study confirmed the unfavorable associations among screen use during meals, daily screen time and junk food consumption in early childhood. In addition, first-time parents should get particular health providers’ attention as they are more likely to use screens during child’s mealtime.

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