Screen time and associated factors among preschool children in Beijing / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate current status of screen-time in 2-6 years old preschoolers in Beijing, and to describe associated factors of high screen time, and to provide a reference for making interventional measures to prevent and control short-sightness.@*Methods@#A total of 366 preschoolers were chosen through convenience sampling from 5 kindergartens in Beijing urban and rural areas. Questionnaire survey was administered to parents regarding child screen-time.@*Results@#The average screen time of the preschool children in Beijing was (120.5±78.5)min/d, and the rate of high screen time was 75.8%. The average screen time during weekdays was (92.4±72.8) min/d, which was less than the average screen time at weekends (192.4±117.0) min/d. Logistic regression analysis showed that age (OR=1.69, 95%CI=1.19-2.38, P＜0.05) and without an habit of exercise among parents (OR=3.05, 95%CI=1.50-6.19, P＜0.05) were positively associated with, and being girl was the negatively associated with high screen-time (OR=0.49, 95%CI=0.25-0.99, P＜0.05).@*Conclusion@#A large proportion of the preschool children aged 2-6 in Beijing have too long screen time, especailly during weekend, and gender, age, parental habit of exercising and so on have impacts on their screen time. Therefore, the education and prevention work should be conducted to reduce their screen time.