Screen Use and Health Habits of Youth

Purpose: Adulthood health habits among individuals develop in our youth.  What are the influences that create our health habits such as eating healthy foods, engaging in exercise and not smoking?  In our complicated society, Uri Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological theory suggests a systematic approach at examining the layers of influence that surround us and shape our behaviors.  The theory views the child as encased by a concentric series of layers, each layer having an impact on the next and all layers exude direct or indirect influences on the child at the center.  At the center are the unique characteristics and traits of the child, which in turn are reflected by the child's behaviors.  The first layer of influence, closest to the child at the center, has the most influence on the child.  Distal to the parents' layer of influence is the layer of peer influences, which may include social and online networks.  More distal to those layers of influence are those from teachers, and the community.  The more proximal these influences are to the child at the center, the more likely they are to affect the child. Proximity of these influences also depends on exposure.  That is, some youth may watch television or engage in social networking at a much higher frequency than other youth; consequently, their influences may be higher on youth's behavior.  Already some studies found that certain types of "screen use" (i.e., television, 3^rdgeneration telephones, the internet) are associated with health status.  It may be that youth choose to engage in screen use rather than engage in physical activity.  Or perhaps, screen use is a refuge for those with poor self-esteem.  This latter hypothesis has received considerable attention.  This study sought to build on the existing information by (1) examining sources of health information among youth (i.e., parents, screen use, others), (2) measuring the association between hours of screen use and health habits, and (3) determining whether self-esteem confounds or interacts with the relationship between screen use and healthy habits.   

Methods: This cross-sectional study consists of a paper-and-pencil survey and will be administered to a large sample of youth, ages 15-18 (n=600).  Currently, this study is in the process of data collection.  Preliminary data were used to examine the relationship between sources of health information, existing health habits and self-esteem.

Results:  Youth have many sources of health information including parents, teachers and friends, as well as screens such as television, 3^rdgeneration telephones and the internet. The vast majority of youth have access to the internet, television or cell phones (98%); but the amount of screen use varies between 1-19 hours per day (mean=5.41, SD=4.39).  Hours of screen use are significantly related to health habits (p<0.001); however, self-esteem appears largely unrelated to health habits for both boys and girls.  

Conclusions:  Youth use health information from many sources available to them.  Although these preliminary data support previous studies' findings that longer hours of screen use are associated with poorer health habits, there was no evidence to support the belief that self-esteem influenced the relationship between screen use and health habits.  Health professionals interested in designing materials to influence youth will need to disseminate information to parents, teachers and through the internet, as youth glean information from all these sources.  Moreover, the importance of youth self-esteem must be in the forefront of efforts to promote healthy habits.