Changes in Television Viewing, Computer Use and Way of Transportation to School Among Children in Portugal from 2002 to 2009 C. Padez1,2; A. Gama2,3; I. Mourão4; H. Nogueira2,5; V. Rosado2,6 1Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Portugal; 2Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Portugal; 3Department of Animal Biology, University of Lisbon, Portugal; 4Department of Sports, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal; 5Department of Geography, University of Coimbra, Portugal; 6Center of Anthropobiology, Instituto de Investigação Científica Tropical, Portugal INTRODUCTION ▪ In Europe, the overall prevalence of overweight and obesity across countries ranged from 8% to 30% and 1% to 13%, respectively, with the highest rates registered in Southern Europe (i.e. Portugal, Spain and Greece) (van Stralen et al. 2012, Bingham et al. 2013). ▪ Sedentary behaviours, such as screen-viewing time, play a significant role in childhood obesity. ▪ In children, screen-viewing is associated with an increased risk of obesity, poor mental well-being and higher levels of cardiovascular risk factors (Stamatakis et al. 2013). ▪ The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) recommends that children’s TV viewing should be limited to 2 h/day. ▪ In Portugal, in 2009, 28% of boys and 26% of girls spent more than 2h/day watching TV on weekdays, and this value was 75% for boys and 74% for girls on weekends (Jago et al. 2012). DESIGN and METHODS Population Two cross-sectional studies Population studied in 2002 ▪ Healthy children from elementary schools, N=4511, aged 7.0-9.0 years ▪ Data collected from October 2002 to May 2003 Population studied in 2009 ▪ Healthy children from the same elementary schools visited in 2002 , N=4521, aged 7.0-9.0 years ▪ Data collected from March 2009 to January 2010 ▪ The schools were randomly selected from all the schools in each District of Portugal Children’s behaviours TV (h/day) Computer Use Sports Participation < 2 h < 1 h Yes ≥ 2 h ≥ 1 h No Transportation to School Parental Education Socioeconomic Status (SES) Walk Four years Low Car Six years Medium Public Transport Nine years High 12 years Statistics More than 12 years Qui-square test AIMS OF THE STUDY ▪ To examine the shifts in television viewing, computer use, sports participation and transportation to school, between 2002 and 2009 in Portuguese school-aged children (7.0-9.5 years of age). ▪ To study the association between the socioeconomic status (SES) and television viewing, computer use, sports participation and way of transportation to school. RESULTS TV ≥ 2 h/day Computer ≥ 1 h/day P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 ▪ Between 2002 and 2009 the percentage of Portuguese children that surpassed de recommended 2 h/day of Television viewing increased 15% on weekdays, 20.4% on Saturdays and 22.5% on Sundays. ▪ A social gradient is observed in both periods, 2002 and 2009. ▪ Children from low SES show highest values of Television viewing (21.4% for 2002 and 37% for 2009) than those from high SES (8.7% for 2002 and 21.7% for 2009). P < 0.01 ▪ Between 2002 and 2009 the percentage of Portuguese children that use the Computer for more than 1 h/day increased 9.4% on weekdays, 30% on Saturdays and 31% on Sundays. ▪ A social gradient is present in both periods, yet it is statistically significant only for 2009. ▪ In 2009, children from low SES show highest values of Computer use (18.6%) than those from high SES (9.8%). ns Transportation to school Sports Participation - Yes P < 0.01 P < 0.01 P < 0.01 2002 P < 0.05 P < 0.01 2009 ▪ In both periods, the majority of the children went to school by car (52.6% for 2002 and 50% for 2009). ▪ The percentage of children that walk to school decreased between 2002 and 2009 (32.4% and 27.9%, respectively). ▪ In all three SES groups the percentage of children that walk to school and that use public transportation decreased. ▪ Families from low SES increased the use of car between 2002 (44.7%) and 2009 (53.4%). ▪ Only half of the Portuguese children aged 7.0-9.5 years participated in after-school sports programs. ▪ There are significant changes in after-school sports participation from 2002 to 2009. ▪ There is a marked social trend in after-school sports participation, with children from families with low SES showing the lowest values (36.2% in 2002 and 38.3% in 2009) and the highest values observed in children from high SES (80.3% in 2002 and 77.3% in 2009). CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES ▪ Only half of the Portuguese children are enrolled on after-school sports programs. ▪ There is a considerable social gradient in sedentary behaviors and physical activity, with children from lower SES being more sedentary and having less sport activities. ▪ Strategies for reducing the amount of time children spend in sedentary behaviours should target particularly families from the lowest SES. Bingham, D.D.; Varela-Silva, M. I.; Ferrão, M. M.; Gama, A.; Mourão, M. I.; Nogueira, H.; Marques, V. R.; Padez, C. 2013. Socio-Demographic and Behavioral Risk Factors Associated with the High Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity in Portuguese Children. American Journal of Human Biology, 26(6):733-742.   Jago, R.; Stamatakis, E.; Gama, A.; Mourão, I.; Nogueira, H.; Rosado, V.; Padez, C. 2013. Parental and Child Screen-viewing Time and Home Media Environment. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 43(2): 150-158. Stamatakis, E.; Ngaire, C.; Jago, R.; Gama, A.; Mourao, I.; Nogueira, H.; Rosado, V.; Padez, C. 2013. Type-specific screen time associations with cardiovascular risk markers in children. American Journal Preventive Medicine, 44: 481-488. Stamatakis, E.; Ngaire, C.; Jago, R.; Gama, A.; Mourao, I.; Nogueira, H.; Rosado, V.; Padez, C. 2013. Associations between indicators of screen time and adiposity indices in Portuguese children. Preventive Medicine, 56: 299-303. ▪ Sedentary behaviours such as television viewing and computer use showed a marked increase from 2002 to 2009 among Portuguese children aged 7.0-9.5 years. ▪ Computer use increased more notoriously than television viewing time, this fact probably reflects the governmental strategy to provide personal computers to all elementary school children. This increase was greatest among children from low SES. Corresponding author: cpadez@antrop.uc.pt