Screen time is independently associated with health-related quality of life in overweight and obese adolescents

Gary S Goldfield; Jameason D Cameron; Marisa Murray; Danijela Maras; Angela L Wilson; Penny Phillips; Glen P Kenny; Stasia Hadjiyannakis; Angela S Alberga; Heather Tulloch; Steve Doucette; Ronald J Sigal

doi:10.1111/apa.13073

Screen time is independently associated with health-related quality of life in overweight and obese adolescents

Acta Paediatr. 2015 Oct;104(10):e448-54. doi: 10.1111/apa.13073. Epub 2015 Jul 14.

Authors

Gary S Goldfield^{1

2

3

4

5}, Jameason D Cameron^{1

3}, Marisa Murray⁴, Danijela Maras⁴, Angela L Wilson⁴, Penny Phillips⁶, Glen P Kenny^{3

6}, Stasia Hadjiyannakis^{1

7}, Angela S Alberga⁸, Heather Tulloch⁹, Steve Doucette¹⁰, Ronald J Sigal¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital Of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
² Department of Paediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
³ School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁴ School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁵ Department of Psychology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁶ Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁷ Centre for Healthy Active living (CHAL), Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
⁸ Faculty of Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL, Canada.
⁹ Prevention and Rehabilitation Centre, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
¹⁰ Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada.
¹¹ Department of Medicine, Cardiac Sciences and Community Health Sciences, Faculties of Medicine and Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AL, Canada.

PMID: 26096064
DOI: 10.1111/apa.13073

Abstract

Aim: Excessive screen time and diminished health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are greater problems for obese than nonobese adolescents, but no research has examined the relationship between these two variables. This study examined the association between screen time and HRQoL in overweight and obese adolescents.

Methods: A sample of 358 overweight and obese adolescents aged 14-18 years were assessed at baseline between 2005 and 2010 as part of the Canadian Healthy Eating, Aerobic and Resistance Training in Youth (HEARTY) trial. We used the Pediatric Quality of Life (PEDS-QL) and other self-report measures to assess HRQoL and screen time, defined as how long the 261 females and 97 males spent viewing TV, using the computer and playing video games.

Results: After adjusting for socio-demographic variables, adiposity, physical activity and diet, screen time duration was associated with reduced overall HRQoL (adjusted r = -0.16, ß = -0.16, p = 0.009) and psychosocial HRQoL (adjusted r = -0.16, ß = -0.18, p = 0.004), but not physical HRQoL. No differences were found between males and females.

Conclusion: Screen time was associated with reduced overall and psychosocial HRQoL in overweight and obese adolescents. Future research should determine whether reducing screen time improves overall and psychosocial HRQoL in obese adolescents.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00195858.

Keywords: Health-related quality of life; Media use; Paediatric obesity; Screen time; Sedentary behaviour.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Female
Humans
Male
Obesity / psychology*
Quality of Life*
Sedentary Behavior*
Television / statistics & numerical data*
Video Games / statistics & numerical data*

Associated data

ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT00195858

Grants and funding

MCT-71979/Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Canada