ERIC Number: EJ867531
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1499-4046
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Screen-Related Sedentary Behaviors: Children's and Parents' Attitudes, Motivations, and Practices
He, Meizi; Piche, Leonard; Beynon, Charlene; Harris, Stewart
Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, v42 n1 p17-25 Jan-Feb 2010
Objective: To investigate school-aged children's and parents' attitudes, social influences, and intentions toward excessive screen-related sedentary behavior (S-RSB). Design: A cross-sectional study using a survey methodology. Setting: Elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada. Participants: All grades 5 and 6 students, their parents, and their teachers in the participating schools were invited to voluntarily participate; 508 student-parent pairs completed the surveys. Main Outcome Measure: Children's screen-related behaviors. Analysis: Data were analyzed using the Independent Student t test to compare differences of continuous variables and the chi-square test to test for differences of categorical variables. Results: Children spent 3.3 [plus or minus] 0.15 (standard error) hours per day engaged in screen-related activities. Entertainment, spending time with family, and boredom were cited as the top 3 reasons for television viewing and video game playing. Compared to "low-screen users" (ie, less than 2 hours/day), "high-screen users" (ie, [greater than or equal to] 2 hours/day) had a less negative attitude toward excessive S-RSB and perceived loosened parental rules on screen use. Parents of high-screen users had a less negative attitude toward children's S-RSB, had fewer rules about their children's screen use, and were more likely to be sedentary themselves. Conclusions and Implications: Intervention strategies aimed at reducing S-RSB should involve both parents and children and should focus on fostering behavioral changes and promoting parental role modeling. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Television Viewing, Intervention, Video Games, Negative Attitudes, Foreign Countries, Social Influences, Grade 5, Grade 6, Student Attitudes, Parent Attitudes, Health Behavior, Physical Activity Level, Surveys, Case Studies, Elementary School Students, Elementary School Teachers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 5; Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Canada
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A