Associations of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior with Atopic Disease in United States Children

Abstract

Objectives: To determine if eczema, asthma, and hay fever are associated with vigorous physical activity, television/video game usage, and sports participation and if sleep disturbance modifies such associations.

Study design: Data were analyzed from 2 cross-sectional studies including 133 107 children age 6-17 years enrolled in the 2003-2004 and 2007-2008 National Survey of Children's Health. Bivariate and multivariate survey logistic regression models were created to calculate the odds of atopic disease and atopic disease severity on vigorous physical activity, television/video game use, and sports participation.

Results: In multivariate logistic regression models controlling for sociodemographic factors, lifetime history of asthma was associated with decreased odds of ≥1 days of vigorous physical activity (aOR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.77-0.99) and decreased odds of sports participation (0.91; 95% CI, 0.84-0.99). Atopic disease accompanied by sleep disturbance had significantly higher odds of screen time and lower odds of sports participation compared with children with either atopic disease or sleep disturbance alone. Severe eczema (aOR, 0.39; 95% CI, 0.19-0.78), asthma (aOR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.14-0.61), and hay fever (aOR, 0.48; 95% CI, 0.24-0.97) were all associated with decreased odds of ≥1 days of vigorous physical activity. Moderate (aOR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.57-0.99) and severe eczema (aOR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.28-0.73), severe asthma (aOR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.25-0.89), and hay fever (aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36-0.61) were associated with decreased odds of sports participation in the past year.

Conclusions: Children with severe atopic disease, accompanied by sleep disturbance, have higher risk of sedentary behaviors.

Keywords: allergic rhinitis; asthma; eczema; exercise; hay fever; physical activity; sedentary behavior; sleep disturbance; sports; television; video games.