Association between Leisure Screen Time and Junk Food Intake in a Nationwide Representative Sample of Spanish Children (1-14 Years): A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Evidence on the association between new patterns of leisure screen time and junk food consumption in Spanish children at the national level is scarce. The aim of this study is to assess the relation between daily leisure screen time and the frequency of sweet, soft drink, fast food, and snack intake in a representative sample of Spanish children and adolescents aged from 1 to 14 years. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a representative sample of the Spanish population under 15 years recruited for the 2017 Spanish National Health Survey (n = 5480). We dichotomized sweet, soft drink, fast food, and snack intake (high/low) and categorized daily leisure screen time (0-59, 60-119, 120-179, and ≥180 min). We calculated crude prevalence ratios and adjusted prevalence ratios, and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), of high frequency of sweet, soft drink, fast food, and snack intake. Children spending at least one hour of daily leisure screen time had higher prevalence of high frequency of sweet and snack intake than children being exposed less than one hour. For soft drinks and fast food, prevalence of high frequency intake was significantly higher from two and three hours of exposure, respectively. Longer periods of screen exposure in Spanish children during their leisure time may be associated with poorer dietary behaviors. The negative effects of excessive screen time in pediatrics population should be further studied.

Keywords: Spain; child; child, preschool; diet, western; screen time.