Impact of screen use on nutritional status

Abstract

Background: Media use has become increasingly common among young people, in both developed and developing countries. Screen media are particularly popular as they provide a wide variety of information and entertainment. Excess use of these has been associated with several negative impacts, among which is the potential risk of inducing or promoting overweight and obesity, through various mechanisms including promotion of a sedentary lifestyle. Objectives: To establish a relationship between prolonged and excessive use of media and the body mass index of students in secondary schools Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 630 secondary school students within Ilorin metropolis. Subjects were selected using a multi-staged, stratified sampling technique. Semi-structured questionnaire were used to obtain socio-demographic data and use of media. The weight and height of the subjects were obtained and body mass index was calculated as the ratio of weight to height squared. Results: A total of 630 students participated in the study, 300 (47.6%) were male and 330 (52.4%) were female. Television was the commonest medium used by 94.9% students, followed by mobile phones (69.2%). Seven point three percent of the students were overweight and 5.2% were obese. Overweight and obese students spent a longer total time on screen media than others (p=0.002). Conclusion: Media use is common in Nigerian children and there was significant association between prolonged use of screen media and being overweight and obese in the students

Keywords

• media
• screen
• overweight
• students