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Weight status, modes of travel to school and screen time: a cross‐sectional survey of children aged 10–13 years in Sydney
Author(s) -
Ming Wen Li,
Merom Dafna,
Rissel Chris,
Simpson Judy M.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
health promotion journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 2201-1617
pISSN - 1036-1073
DOI - 10.1071/he10057
Subject(s) - overweight , screen time , medicine , obesity , demography , logistic regression , cross sectional study , childhood obesity , odds ratio , odds , pediatrics , gerontology , environmental health , pathology , sociology
Issue addressed The relationship between weight status and modes of travel to school and screen time of children is not clearly understood. This study aims to explore these relationships of Australian children aged 10–13 years. Method Weight and height, modes of travel to school and screen time of 1,362 children were reported by their parents. The international standard age adjusted BMI (weight/height2) was used to classify children's weight status. Factors associated with overweight and obesity were determined by logistic regression modelling. Results Twenty‐one per cent of children were classified as overweight or obese and 36% went to school by car daily. Compared with children who were driven to school daily, children who walked to school daily were significantly less likely to be obese, with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 0.20 (95%CI 0.16 to 0.74; p=0.05). Children whose screen time was more than two hours a day were also more likely to be obese (AOR 3.5, 95%CI 1.13 to 8.26; p=0.03) than those who spent less than one hour a day watching a screen. Conclusions This study suggests that being driven to school daily and longer screen time are associated with children's obesity. So what It is possible to promote healthy weight for children by encouraging an active journey to school and reducing their screen time.