Physical activity and sedentary behaviors and health-related quality of life in adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
Our goal was to assess cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between physical activity and sedentary behaviors (television viewing, computer and video-game usage, and reading) with health-related QoL.


METHODS
Of 2353 children surveyed (median age: 12.7 years), 1216 were resurveyed 5 years later, and 475 were newly recruited into the study (N = 1691). Children completed detailed activity questionnaires. Health-related QoL was assessed by using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL).


RESULTS
Cross-sectionally, after multivariable adjustment, adolescents in the highest versus lowest tertile of time spent in outdoor physical activity and television viewing had a higher (P(trend) = .001) and lower (P(trend) = .0003) total PedsQL score, respectively. Adolescents who remained in the highest tertiles compared with those in the lowest tertiles of total physical activity over the 5 years had significantly higher scores in the following areas: total (P(trend) = .04), physical summary (P(trend) = .0001), and social (P(trend) = .02) domains. Conversely, those in the highest versus lowest tertile of screen-viewing time during follow-up reported significantly lower values in the following areas: total score (6.34-unit difference), physical summary (4.86-unit difference), psychosocial summary (7.09-unit difference), and emotional (8.33-unit difference) and school (9.78-unit difference) domains.


CONCLUSIONS
Regular physical activity over the long-term was associated with higher perceived health-related QoL among adolescents. Conversely, lower PedsQL scores were observed among those who spent the most time in screen-viewing activities. Improved understanding of these relationships could help in developing interventions to promote general well-being among adolescents.
Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Bamini
B
Gopinath
Louise L
LL
Hardy
Louise A
LA
Baur
George
G
Burlutsky
Paul
P
Mitchell
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003615:Dancing; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D057566:Self Report; D013177:Sports; D013690:Television; D018910:Video Games