ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SCREEN TIME AND OBESITY IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: narrative review

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.1593462328065

• Palavras-chave: Sedentary Behavior. Screen Time. Obesity. Child. Adolescent.

• Keywords: Sedentary Behavior. Screen Time. Obesity. Child. Adolescent.

• Abstract:

  Obesity is a chronic disease that has increased its prevalence among children and adolescents. An important factor linked to this epidemiological picture is the sedentary behavior in this age group. This scenario is often a consequence of increasing exposure to screens (television, cell phone, tablet, video game). The aim of this study was to identify the influence of these electronic devices on sedentary behavior and, consequently, on obesity in children and adolescents. A narrative review was performed using the PubMed database. The analyzed variables were screen time, sedentary behavior and obesity, with 34 eligible studies published between 2012 and 2022, involving 164,108 individuals between 05 and 19 years old. Among the revised data, the Body Mass Index (BMI) was the main adopted parameter for overweight and obesity. It was observed that most children and adolescents are exposed to screens for a much longer time than recommended by the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (2019) and that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the evaluated samples ranged from 5.7% to 64%. Thus, screen time, alone or in association with inadequate eating habits and reduced physical activity, was, in different degrees of strength of evidence, an important factor for the occurrence of obesity among children and adolescents.