Media use, sports activities, and motor fitness in childhood and adolescence

Abstract

Media use is an important determinant of juvenile sports activity and motor performance, being part of a complex juvenile leisure behavior.

Long‐term effect of migration background on the development of physical fitness among primary school children

“…The proportion of children with migration background in this longitudinal study (26%) is well in accordance with cross‐sectional studies by Greier and Riechelmann among Tyrolean preschool children (25%), and by Ruedl et al among Tyrolean primary school children (26%) and well comparable with a recent cross‐sectional study by Kaiser‐Jovy et al among Tyrolean secondary school children (22%).…”

“…Recently, Kaiser‐Jovy et al found among a cohort of about 400 Austrian 10‐14 years old secondary school students a mean time of self‐reported media use (watching TV, surfing in the Internet, use of smartphone, playing computer etc) of 10.3 hours on a weekday and 12 hours on weekends. As Kaiser‐Jovy et al did not find a significant influence of hours of media use on sport activity, they concluded that a heavy media use is part of a complex juvenile leisure behavior and therefore rather a “time killer” with regard to sport activity and physical fitness. In general, physical fitness is subdivided into health‐related fitness (cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular endurance and strength, body composition, flexibility) and skill‐related fitness components (agility, balance, coordination, speed, power, reaction time) which can be tested by a single test item assessment (eg, “shuttle run” covering cardiovascular endurance) or by entire motor test batteries .…”

“…In a recent study by Hilpert et al among a cohort of about 1000 German first graders with a median age of 7 years, children with a low socioeconomic status and migration background were more likely to exhibit unfavorable health behavior patterns, higher BMI scores, and poorer physical fitness. In addition, studies reported a significant association between migration background and an elevated media use among children and adolescents . Besharat Pour et al showed that Swedish children whose parents were immigrants had a higher risk of having low physical activity and being overweight.…”

“…In addition, studies reported a significant association between migration background and an elevated media use among children and adolescents. 5,15 Besharat Pour et al 16 showed that Swedish children whose parents were immigrants had a higher risk of having low physical activity and being overweight. In addition, Greier and Riechelmann 17 found among a cohort of more than 1000 Tyrolean preschool children a significantly lower physical fitness and a twofold higher prevalence of overweight or obesity among children with migration background.…”

Changes in motor competence over four decades in 10 to 14-year-old Austrian boys

“…Over the last several decades there have been significant changes in physical activity levels of children and adolescents, particularly in highly developed countries, leading to increasingly sedentary behavioral choices (Hills, King & Armstrong, 2007). Watching TV, playing computer games and surfing the internet have become popular leisure time behaviors Greier, Drenowatz, Ruedl, Lackner, Kroell & Feurstein-Zerlauth, 2018;Kaiser-Jovy, Scheu & Greier, 2017;Mathers, Canterford, Olds, Hesketh, Ridley & Wake, 2009). Accordingly, various studies have shown that a majority of youth are not meeting current physical activity guidelines of 60-minutes of moderateto-vigorous PA (Krug, Jekauc, Poethko-Müller, Woll & Schlaud, 2012;Reilly, Jackson, Montgomery, Kelly, Slater, Grant & Paton, 2004;WHO 2010).…”