TITLE:
The Temporal Trend of Screen-Based Exposure among Chinese Younger Generation from 2004-2015
AUTHORS:
Zeyu Wang, Yifan Ding, Qiuchen Li
KEYWORDS:
China Health and Nutrition Survey, Screen Time, Overweight, Obesity, Long-Term Trend, Younger Generation
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Physical Education,
Vol.11 No.2,
May
28,
2021
ABSTRACT: Background: Media equipment is infiltrating into all areas of daily life, and its potential health outcomes have been a focus. However, the long-time trend of screen exposure among Chinese young generation is unclear. Objective: To examine the changing trend of screen exposure among Chinese young generation from 2004 to 2015. Methods: The temporal trends in screen exposure were examined among participants aged 6-24 years who came from five cross-sectional surveys through 2004 (n = 2435), 2006 (n = 1971), 2009 (n = 1934), 2011 (n = 2318) and 2015 (n = 2461) of China Health and Nutrition Survey. Results: Across five surveys from 2004 to 2015, screen time continued to grow from 2004 to 2011, while in 2015, it declined significantly (1.45 hrs/day in 2004, 1.99 in 2006, 2.35 in 2009, 2.47 in 2011, and 1.95 in 2015). The stratification analyses by age, gender, and residential area got the same patterns in most cases. During the same period, the prevalence of overweight/obesity kept increasing from 11.4% to 24.4%. Conclusions: The secular upward trend in young generation’s screen exposure since 2004 reached its apex in 2011, and then there was a fall-off in 2015. By contrast, the prevalence of overweight/obesity kept increasing from 2011 to 2015.