title: Screen-related sedentary behaviors: children's and parents' attitudes, motivations, and practices.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate school-aged children's and parents' attitudes, social influences, and intentions toward excessive screen-related sedentary behavior (S-RSB).
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study using a survey methodology.
  
  
  METHODS
  Elementary schools in London, Ontario, Canada.
  
  
  METHODS
  All grades 5 and 6 students, their parents, and their teachers in the participating schools were invited to voluntarily participate; 508 student-parent pairs completed the surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children's screen-related behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were analyzed using the Independent Student t test to compare differences of continuous variables and the chi-square test to test for differences of categorical variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children spent 3.3 +/- 0.15 (standard error) hours per day engaged in screen-related activities. Entertainment, spending time with family, and boredom were cited as the top 3 reasons for television viewing and video game playing. Compared to "low-screen users" (ie, < 2 hours/day), "high-screen users" (ie, >or= 2 hours/day) had a less negative attitude toward excessive S-RSB and perceived loosened parental rules on screen use. Parents of high-screen users had a less negative attitude toward children's S-RSB, had fewer rules about their children's screen use, and were more likely to be sedentary themselves.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intervention strategies aimed at reducing S-RSB should involve both parents and children and should focus on fostering behavioral changes and promoting parental role modeling.
authors.affiliation: Public Health Research, Education and Development Program, Middlesex-London Health Unit, Ontario, Canada. meizi.he@utsa.edu
authors.forename: Meizi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Leonard
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Piché
authors.forename: Charlene
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Beynon
authors.forename: Stewart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harris
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D009864:Ontario; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010988:Play and Playthings / Q000523:psychology*; D012574:Schools; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television; D018910:Video Games / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data