Systematic review of childhood and adolescence sedentary behavior: analysis of the Report Card Brazil 2018

Abstract

The aim of this study was to summarize studies examining the prevalence of sedentary behavior among Brazilian children and adolescents. A systematic review conducted on eight databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, LILACS, SPORTDiscus, BIREME, Scielo, and Google Scholar). The criteria applied were: original research; samples including Brazilian children and adolescents; to be a school- or population-based survey; observational studies using different measures of sedentary behavior; studies showing the prevalence of at least one component of sedentary behavior. Of the 205 studies included, 104 were analyzed. There was a greater concentration of studies in the southern (n=41) and northeastern (n=18) regions. The components more frequently investigated were watching TV (n=36) and screen time (n=32). Only three studies included children under seven years, and the age range more investigated was 10 to 19 years. Most of the studies used a self-reported questionnaire and showed variability in the cut-off point applied (from 2 to 4 hours/day). The prevalence of adolescents who met recommendations ranged from 9.4% to 68.0% for sedentary behavior (<2 hours/day) and from 16.8% to 67.2% for TV viewing (<2 hours/day). The prevalence ranged from 39.1% to 97.7% for computer use and from 47.7% to 98.0% for videogame use. Most of the studies reported that less than half of the adolescents met the recommendations of sedentary behavior and TV viewing. On the other hand, more than half of them devoted less than two hours a day to computer and videogame use.

Behavior in children and adolescents associated to screen time in Porto Velho, Brazilian Western Amazon

“…Ages under or equal to 14 years old exhibited the highest risk of screen time exposure, which corroborates findings of several national 3,7,15,21 and international 17,20,22 studies. Younger adolescents (pre-adolescents) gradually show more probability to exceed daily screen time than older adolescents, i. e., over 14 years old.…”

“…Divergences found in the literature regarding the association between sex and screen time may be related to discrepancies among different cut-off points used to categorize sedentary behavior due to the use of electrical and electronic devices. Systematic reviews 6,8 evidenced that prevalences resulting from the use of a cut-off point of two hours, or over, of television time, for instance, were higher among males than females, while derivatives of cut-off points of four hours, or over, were higher among females 7,18 .…”

“…Screen time may harm children's and adolescents' physical and psychosocial health 5 . Some of them are increasing the risk of developing sedentary behavior, early signs of diseases related to metabolic syndromes (obesity and arterial hypertension, high cholesterol, triglycerides, and glycemia), and low levels of bone minerals, low selfesteem, and problems related to depression 7 . Evidence suggests if sedentary behavior starts at a young age tends to continue along with people's life cycles 8 .…”

Prevalence and sociodemographic factors associated with meeting the 24-hour movement guidelines in a sample of Brazilian adolescents

“…Two indicators of screen-time were used in this study, i.e., time watching videos (e.g., movies, series, news), and playing videogames, irrespective if these activities were performed using smartphones, tablets, computers or any other electronic device. This has to be taken into account when comparing the results with other studies, as the metric of screen-time varies with differences in measurement instruments [44]. Large variability has been observed with studies analyzing screen time in Brazilian samples of adolescents, with proportions of non-adherence with the guidelines varying between 9.4% and 68% [44], which may be at least partly attributable to different measures (e.g., only television, or television and computer use) and cut-offs used to classify adolescents (e.g., 2 or 4 h/day).…”

“…This has to be taken into account when comparing the results with other studies, as the metric of screen-time varies with differences in measurement instruments [44]. Large variability has been observed with studies analyzing screen time in Brazilian samples of adolescents, with proportions of non-adherence with the guidelines varying between 9.4% and 68% [44], which may be at least partly attributable to different measures (e.g., only television, or television and computer use) and cut-offs used to classify adolescents (e.g., 2 or 4 h/day). Even considering that the evidence for screen-time guidelines is limited [3], the benchmark of 2 h/day is important for research and public health policy [45], and for monitoring this behavior in research.…”