The Amount of Time Children and Adolescents Spend Watching Screens Influences Their Eating Habits

*The following is excerpted from an online article posted on MedicalXpress.

The time children and adolescents spend on screen time entertainment –computers, mobile phones, television, and video games– adversely affects their eating habits. This is the main conclusion drawn from research carried out by EpiPHAAN (Epidemiology, Physical Activity, Accelerometry, and Nutrition) research group of the University of Malaga, which further establishes that parents’ education level is also associated with the adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

This research analyzed more than 3800 children and adolescents, aged eight to 16, from 245 schools from all over Spain, in order to assess the level of physical activity, sedentarism, lifestyles, and obesity in Spanish youth and their families.

This study evidences that in children and adolescents a greater amount of screen time is associated with lower consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, fish, and nuts and greater consumption of sweets, candies, and fast food.

Likewise, the scientists evidenced that low parent education level influences the adoption of worse lifestyles among children and adolescents, including poor diets, as well as little knowledge of nutrition and awareness about nutritional aspects.

The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2021-04-amount-children-adolescents-screens-habits.html