Association between screen time and the variation of food intake markers among school-aged adolescents in Niterói/RJ, Brazil

Abstract Background Changes in eating habits may be associated with sedentary behaviors by favoring excessive weight gain among adolescents, and consequently leading to the occurrence of chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD). Objective To evaluate the association between screen time and consumption of healthy and unhealthy food markers in adolescents. Method A longitudinal study with adolescents aged from 10-16 years of public schools in Niterói, in the state of Rio de Janeiro/Brazil was performed in 2014. It was applied a questionnaire about screen time, food consumption frequency and socio-demographic variables. Generalized linear models were applied with p-value <0.05. Results 448 students participated in the study, 54.8% were male, and 67% were in the category of ≥5 hours/day of total screen time and 69% in the ≤4 hours/day of television time (TV time). It was not observed an association between total screen time and food intake variations. However, an inverse association was observed between TV time and vegetable consumption (p-value = 0.02). Conclusion It was not observed an association between total screen time and food intake variations. Nevertheless, it was verified that time spent watching television was associated with consumption of vegetables. Thus, it is suggested that the reduction of the time spent in sedentary activities and healthy food choices are priorities in the elaboration of public policies.