Jari Alshumrani Mesbah, Yousef Alhazmi Amal, Baloush Samar A, Aljohani Shahad O, Almutairi Wejdan T
College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, SAU.
Cureus. 2020 Dec 4;12(12):e11903. doi: 10.7759/cureus.11903.
Background Overweight and obesity among children are progressively turning into global issues. Numerous factors have been linked to the proliferation of pediatric obesity. However, there are still questions as to whether the corresponding proliferation in the use of technology could be linked to the increase in body mass index (BMI) among children. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between high BMI in female elementary school-age children and time spent using electronic devices. Methods This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted across three female elementary schools located in Jeddah between 2017 and 2018. All schools which are affiliated with the Ministry of National Guard in Jeddah were included. Demographic data, school performance, sleep routine, physical activity, parents' beliefs, and family demographic data were collected from the legal custodian of the children. The research group visited schools to obtain children's BMI measurements. Results The number of participants who responded to the survey was 681. The results showed that the increase in BMI was non-significantly linked with the period spent using electronic devices, the use of electronic devices before sleep, nor the kind of device used. However, there was a significant association between high BMI and one type of electronic device: the television. There was a significant association between high BMI and the denial by parents that their children were obese. Furthermore, 50% of children were obese while 92.9% of overweight children's parents did not believe that there was a problem with the weight of their children. Conclusion There is no significant association between screen time spent on electronic devices and high BMI among female elementary school-age children. However, lack of physical activity, fast food consumption, and genetic predispositions are still major contributing factors for childhood obesity and overweight. Nearly all parents of children who are overweight did not perceive their children as being overweight, which brings to the fore the subject of lack of awareness about childhood obesity among parents.
背景 儿童超重和肥胖正逐渐成为全球性问题。许多因素与儿童肥胖的增多有关。然而，技术使用的相应增加是否与儿童体重指数（BMI）的上升有关，仍存在疑问。本研究的目的是调查小学适龄女童高BMI与使用电子设备时间之间的关联。方法 这是一项横断面研究，于2017年至2018年在吉达的三所女子小学进行。所有隶属于吉达国民警卫队部的学校均被纳入。从儿童的法定监护人处收集人口统计学数据、学业成绩、睡眠习惯、体育活动、家长观念以及家庭人口统计学数据。研究小组走访学校获取儿童的BMI测量值。结果 对调查做出回应的参与者有681人。结果显示，BMI的增加与使用电子设备的时长、睡前使用电子设备以及所使用设备的类型之间无显著关联。然而，高BMI与一种电子设备：电视，之间存在显著关联。高BMI与家长否认其子女肥胖之间存在显著关联。此外，50%的儿童肥胖，而92.9%超重儿童的家长不认为其子女的体重存在问题。结论 在小学适龄女童中，电子设备屏幕使用时间与高BMI之间无显著关联。然而，缺乏体育活动、食用快餐和遗传易感性仍是儿童肥胖和超重的主要促成因素。几乎所有超重儿童的家长都未意识到自己的孩子超重，这凸显了家长对儿童肥胖缺乏认识这一问题。
