Background: The objective of this study was to find the association of screen time with physical activity and BMI in middle school children in the age group of 11 to 13 years in Tamil Nadu, India.Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 139 middle school children aged 11 to 13 years at the state of Tamil Nadu, India from June 2019 to August 2019. Data regarding screen time and physical activity were collected from the children using a predesigned questionnaire and anthropometric measurements done. The data collected were analyzed with suitable statistical methods using SPSS 25 software.Results: Of the 139 children, 46(33.1%) were 11 years, 48(34.5%) were 12 years and 45(32.4%) were 13 years old. 74(53.2%) were male and 65(46.8%) were female. Majority of the study subjects (52.5%) had an average daily screen time of >120 minutes followed by 61 to 120 minutes (28.8%) and ≤60 minutes (18.7%). Of the 139 children studied, only 31.7% (44 children) followed the WHO recommendations of moderate to vigorous physical activity of at least 60 minutes per day, 57.5% of the children had normal BMI, 10.8 % had thinness, 25.2% were overweight and 6.5% were obese. Physical activity was found to decrease with increasing screen time, and this was found to be statistically significant. No statistically significant correlation between screen time and BMI was found. There was statistically significant correlation between physical activity and BMI.Conclusions: There is a significant correlation of screen time with physical activity in this study. Urgent measures need to be taken to decrease screen time and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Background: This study was done with the objective of finding the average daily duration and pattern of screen time use in children in the age group of 24 to 60 months in the state of Tamilnadu, India and to find the correlation between screen time and demographic parameters.Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted at the state of Tamilnadu, India from June 2019 to August 2019 among 148 children in play school and kindergarten classes in the age group of 24 to 60 months fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Details regarding screen time use were collected from the parents using a predesigned questionnaire and analyzed using suitable statistical methods.Results: A total of 148 children (77(52.0%) male and 71(48.0%) female) were studied. The average daily screen time in the study group was 139.4 minutes (SD: 1.6). Majority of the children had a screen time duration between 61 to 120 minutes (48.6%). Only 14.2% had a screen time of ≤60 minutes as per AAP and WHO recommendations. Majority of the screen time was used to watch children’s entertainment programs and play games (67.6%). 83.1% of the children were using 2 or more screen types. Television and smart phones were the commonest screen types used by children in this age group. The percentage of children with average daily screen time ≤ 60 minutes was found to be more in joint families (16.3%) compared to nuclear families (10%). But this difference was not statistically significant. No statistically significant correlation was found between screen time duration in children and age, gender, parent’s socioeconomic status, education and occupation.Conclusions: Increasing screen time activity in early childhood is an emerging problem of the digital age which requires interventions at family, social and healthcare levels.

Background: Screen time behavior in young children is highly influenced by parental attitude towards screen time.The objective of this study is to assess the awareness and attitude among parents of primary school students in the state of Tamil Nadu, India towards screen time in children. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in the state of Tamil Nadu, India among 134 parents of primary school children. Data collected using a predesigned questionnaire were analyzed using suitable statistical methods.Results: Of the 134 participants, 48.5% were fathers and 51.5% mothers. Majority (77.6%) were in the age group of 24 to 35 years. Only 3.7% of the participants were aware of the exact screen time guidelines in children. 93.3% of the participants felt that it was important to limit screen time in children. 84.3% of the participants believed that the content of screen time should be controlled in children. 82.1% of parents felt that they should co view media with their children. 65.7% of the participants believed that the ideal screen time in children per day is 1 to 2 hours. 82.1% of the participants believed that using screen time as a replacement for caretaker was an important reason for increasing screen time. The awareness of adverse effects of increased screen time was high among the participants. 91.8% of the participants believed that establishing limits for screen time in children was the most efficient way to limit screen time in children. 89.6 % believed that increasing awareness among children was important.Conclusions: In this study, we conclude that majority of the parents were aware of the adverse effects of increasing screen time and want to establish healthy screen time behaviours in children.

Background: Functional constipation and obesity negatively impact children in several aspects. Objective was to find the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children with functional constipation in the age group of 6 to 12 yearsMethods: This cross-sectional study was done at the outpatient department of the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Surgery at Arunai Medical College and Hospital, Thiruvannamalai, Tamilnadu, India among 186 children with functional constipation aged 6 to 12 years. Data was collected from the parents and children using a predesigned questionnaire and clinical examination done. Data collected were analyzed by suitable statistical methods.   Results: Out of the 186 children with functional constipation studied, 76 (40.86%) had normal BMI, 66 (35.48%) were overweight and 44 (23.66%) were obese. Of the 66 overweight children with functional constipation, 50% are male and 50% are female. Of the 44 obese children with functional constipation, 63.64% were male and 36.36% were female. A statistically higher prevalence of overweight (63.79%) and obesity (25.87%) was observed in children with functional constipation in the age group of 11 to 12 years. There was no statistically significant correlation of gender and socioeconomic status with body mass index (BMI) in children with functional constipation. A higher prevalence of overweight (57.45%) was observed in children with functional constipation with a predominantly non vegetarian diet. 46.77% of children with functional constipation experienced encopresis. The percentage of children with encopresis was significantly higher in the obese group (88.64%) compared to overweight children (57.58%) and children with normal BMI (13.16%).  Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in children with functional constipation aged 6 to 12 years.

Background: In recent times, one of the factors implied in poor school performance in children is increasing screen time. Objective of the study was to find the association of screen time duration with school performance among primary school children in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted among 134 primary school students at the state of Tamil Nadu, India from June 2019 to August 2019. Data regarding screen time were collected from the parents and school performance from teachers using a predesigned questionnaire. The data collected were analyzed with suitable statistical methods using SPSS 25 software.Results: Of the 134 children, 72(53.7%) were male and 62(46.3%) female children. 52(38.8%) were in the age group of 6 to 7 years, 47(35.1%) in the age group of 8 to 9 years and 35(26.1%) in the age group of 10 to 11 years. Majority of the children (56.7%) had an average daily screen time of >120 minutes followed by 61 to 120 minutes (29.1%) and ≤60 minutes (14.2%). Based on composite academic performance, 23(17.2%) children were categorized as having poor academic performance, 71(52.9%) as average and 40(29.9%) as good academic performance. There was no statistically significant correlation of screen time duration with composite academic performance and academic performance in mathematics, science and language. (p Value >0.05).Conclusions: There was no significant correlation between screen time duration and school performance in primary school children in this study. Further studies are required to find the influence of screen time on various domains of learning and on long term cognition and educational achievement.