Screen-based sedentary behaviour and adiposity among school children: Results from International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) - Kenya
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Date
2018
Authors
Wachira, Lucy-Joy M.
Muthuri, Stella K.
Ochola, Sophie A.
Onywera, Vincent O.
Tremblay, Mark S.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Public Library of Science
Abstract
Background
High levels of sedentary behaviours have been independently associated with several negative
health indicators, including obesity. Screen time (ST) is often used as a contributing
measure of sedentary time. It is recommended that children spend no more than 2 hours on
recreational sedentary screen-based activities daily. We describe screen-based sedentary
time of urban school children and examine the associations between body mass index
(BMI) and percent Body Fat (%BF) with ST levels.
Methods
Data were collected from 563 children aged 9 to 11 years attending 29 non-boarding primary
schools in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of the International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle
and the Environment (ISCOLE). Data were analysed to test for associations between ST
and sex, type of school attended (public verses private), Socioeconomic status, adiposity,
and access to electronic devices. We also assessed participants' ST on school and weekend
days.
Results
Of the participants recruited, 15.5% had high ST levels, 67.9% spent no more than 2 hours
in recreational screen activities on school days while 74.2% did not meet the guidelines on
weekend days. Participants sex was associated with daily ST (t = 3.5, p<0.001), ST on the
weekend (t = 3.9, p <0.001) and total ST per week (t = 3.5, p<0.001) with males having
higher ST than females. ST was associated with type of school for daily ST (t = 3.6, p<0.001), ST on the weekend (t = 4.5, p<0.001) and total ST per week (t = 3.6, p<0.001)
where private schools pupils had higher ST. ST was not associated with BMI. ST was not
associated with %BF except on weekend days (p = 0.038) where those classified as overfat/
obese (fat) had higher ST.
Conclusions
A large proportion of children spend more time than recommended on screen activities particularly
on weekend days. Strategies to improve healthy living should focus on the reduction
of sedentary ST for school-aged children.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Citation
Wachira L-JM, Muthuri SK, Ochola SA, Onywera VO, Tremblay MS (2018) Screen-based sedentary behaviour and adiposity among school children: Results from International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (ISCOLE) - Kenya. PLoS ONE 13(6): e0199790. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0199790