A Cross Sectional Study On Sedentary Behavioral Time In Children Aged 12-15 Years And Its Association With Sleep Duration

Abstract

Introduction: Sedentary behavior in children has been found to be a potential risk factor for metabolic health. Screen time sedentary behavior and non-screen sedentary behavior are two broad categories of sedentary activity. Excessive screen usage, especially during adolescence, has been associated with behavioral problems, depression, low self-esteem, increased aggression, poorer academic performance, more sleep problems, and obesity. This study investigates the relationship between sleep duration and sedentary time.

Objectives: To find out the sedentary behavioral time in children aged 12-15 years and to analyze the association between sedentary behavior and sleep duration.

Methods: A questionnaire based cross sectional study was conducted. A total of 300 children from urban and rural schools located in Thanjavur were selected. The questionnaire comprised of the sedentary time spent in various activities during weekdays and weekends and the average sleep time per day. The total sedentary time was compared with the average sleep duration in both the groups of our study. Pearson’s correlation was used to correlate sedentary time and sleep duration.

Results: Children were spending an average time of 11.7 hours per day in sedentary behaviour with an average sleep duration of 7.9 hours per day. Negative correlation was found between sedentary time and sleep duration.

Conclusion: Higher sedentary behavioural time was associated with shorter sleep duration in children.