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. 2023 Jun 8:11:1163458.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1163458. eCollection 2023.

Children's Internet use and physical and psychosocial development

Svetlana Novaković  1 , Sanja Milenković  2 , Marijana Srećković  3   4   5 , Dušan Backović  2 , Vladimir Ignjatović  6   7 , Nataša Capo  5   8 , Tamara Stojanović  9 , Vladimir Vukomanović  10 , Marija Sekulić  11 , Jagoda Gavrilović  12 , Katarina Vuleta  10 , Vesna Ignjatović  10
Affiliations

Children's Internet use and physical and psychosocial development

Svetlana Novaković et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Introduction: Internet use (IU) commonly refers to sedentary lifestyle and may be addictive, especially among children. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between IU and some aspects of child physical and psychosocial development.

Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional survey by using a screen-time based sedentary behavior questionnaire and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)-among 836 primary school children in the Braničevo District. The children's medical records were analysed for vision problems and spinal deformities. Their body weight (BW) and height (BH) were measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated as BW in kilograms divided by BH in meters squared (kg/m2).

Results: The average age of respondents was 13.4 (SD 1.2) years. The mean duration of daily Internet use and sedentary behavior was 236 (SD 156) and 422 (SD 184) minutes, respectively. There was no significant correlation between daily IU and vision problems (near sightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, strabismus), and spinal deformities. However, daily Internet use is significantly associated with obesity (p < 0.001) and sedentary behavior (p = 0.01). There was significant correlation between emotional symptoms with total Internet usage time, and total sedentary score (p < 0.001 for both, r = 0.141 and r = 0.132, respectively). There was a positive correlation between the total sedentary score of children and hyperactivity/inattention (r = 0.167, p < 0.001), emotional symptoms (r = 0.132, p < 0.001), and conduct problems (r = 0.084, p < 0.01).

Conclusion: In our study, children's Internet use was associated with obesity, psychological disturbances and social maladjustment.

Keywords: Internet use; obesity; physical development; psychosocial development; schoolchildren; sedentary behavior; spine deformities; vision.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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