Predictors for Screen Time Exposure among Children between 3 and 5 Years Old in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Background: The use of technology is an increasingly common practice among preschoolers. Little is known about the relationship between screen time exposure (STE) and aspects related to family and the environment.

Aim: The aim is to characterize STE in Brazilian children aged between 3 and 5 years. Furthermore, the objective of this study is to associate the STE of children and of their parents with sociodemographic variables.

Methods: Children aged between 3 and 5 years from southern Brazil and their parents participated in this study. To investigate STE, the researchers developed a specific questionnaire. To compare STE between age groups, the Kruskal-Wallis test was performed, followed by Dunn's post hoc test. Spearman's correlation and linear regression were used to correlate the variables.

Results: Children (n = 237) spend an average of 3.7 ± 0.8 h/day in front of screens. The STE of children had a moderately positive correlation with the STE of their parents (r = 0.4; p-value < 0.001). Only the variables of the children's and parents' STE had a significant and positive association. The model is significant (F = 6164, p-value < 0.001) and the residuals of the model met the necessary assumptions, with normal distribution, constant variance and without the presence of outliers.

Conclusion: Children in southern Brazil remain in front of screens four times longer than the recommended amount of time. It was also found that the STE of parents directly influences that of their children.