Prevalência de tempo excessivo de tela e fatores associados em adolescentes

Joana Marcela Sales de Lucena, Luanna Alexandra Cheng, Thaísa Leite Mafaldo Cavalcante, Vanessa Araújo da Silva, José Cazuza de Farias Júnior

To determine the prevalence of excessive screen time and to analyze associated factors among adolescents. This was a cross-sectional school-based epidemiological study with 2,874 high school adolescents with age 14-19 years (57.8% female) from public and private schools in the city of João Pessoa, PB, Northeast Brazil. Excessive screen time was defined as watching television and playing video games or using the computer for more than two hours per day. The associated factors analyzed were: sociodemographic (gender, age, economic class, and skin color), physical activity and nutritional status of adolescents. The prevalence of excessive screen time was 79.5% (95% CI 78.1-81.1) and it was higher in males (84.3%) compared to females (76.1%; p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, adolescent males aged 14-15 years of higher economic classes had higher chances of exposure to excessive screen time. The level of physical activity and nutritional status of adolescents were not associated with the outcome. The prevalence of excessive screen time was high and varied according to sociodemographic characteristics of adolescents. It is necessary to develop interventions to reduce the excessive screen time among adolescents, particularly in subgroups with higher exposure.