A Nationwide Survey on the Daily Screen Time of Iranian Children and Adolescents: The CASPIAN - IV Study.

BACKGROUND

Leisure time activity is an important life-style habit. This study aims to determine the screen time of a nationally representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents.

METHODS

This nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted as part of the fourth survey of a surveillance system. The participants consisted of 14880 students, with aged range from 6 to 18 years, living in 30 provinces in Iran. Screen time, i.e. the time spent on watching television (TV)/video and computer games during leisure time, was assessed by using the questionnaire of the Globasl Student Health Survey of the World Health Organization.

RESULTS

The study participants were 13486 school students (participation rate of 90.6%) with a mean age of 12. 47 (3.36) years. Overall, 75.6% of students were from urban and 24.4% from rural areas and 50.8% were boys respectively. Overall, 33.4% and 53% of students watched TV/video more than 2 h a day in their leisure time during school days and holidays, respectively. Likewise, 6.3% and 10.9% of students used computer more than 2 h a day in their leisure time during the school days and holidays, respectively. Overall, 47.1% of urban students and 24.2% of rural students used personal computer in their leisure time during the school days. The corresponding figures were 50.8% and 27.2% in weekends and holidays, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The time spent on screen activities is long in a considerably high number of Iranian children and adolescents. It should be reduced by increasing the public awareness and by providing facilities for regular daily physic activity for students' leisure times.