title: The elasticity of time: associations between physical activity and use of time in adolescents.
abstract: The way an individual uses one's time can greatly affect his or her health. The purpose of this article was to examine the cross-sectional cross-elasticity relationships for use of time domains in a sample of Australian adolescents. This study analyzed 24-hour recall time use data collected using the Multimedia Activity Recall for Children and Adults (N = 2,200). Using simple linear regression, the authors calculated the difference in time devoted to a reference activity (i.e., screen time, sleep, or social) given 1 hour extra in the time devoted to a criterion activity (i.e., physical activity). The most elastic activities were screen time and school-related time. Every additional hour committed to physical activity was associated with 32 minutes less screen time. This relationship was more pronounced in obese adolescents (-56 minutes screen time) compared with normal (-31 minutes) and overweight (-27 minutes) adolescents. Promising behavior patterns exist, with screen time appearing as a highly elastic behavior.
authors.affiliation: University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Olds
authors.forename: Katia E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Ferrar
authors.forename: Sjaan R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Gomersall
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maher
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Walters
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000523:psychology; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D013690:Television; D013997:Time Factors; D018910:Video Games