title: International Trends in Adolescent Screen-Time Behaviors From 2002 to 2010.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Engaging in prolonged screen-time behaviors (STBs) is detrimental for health. The objective of the present analyses was to examine temporal trends in TV viewing and computer use among adolescents across 30 countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were derived from the cross-national Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Data on TV viewing and computer use for gaming and nongaming purposes were collected in 2002 (n = 139,725 [51.4% girls]), 2006 (n = 149,251 [51.3% girls]), and 2010 (n = 154,845 [51.2% girls]). The temporal trends in TV viewing and computer use were each tested for all countries combined and for each individual country by sex-specific univariate analysis of variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Between 2002 and 2010, TV viewing decreased slightly in most of the 30 countries among both boys and girls. This decrease was more than offset by a sharp increase in computer use, which was consistent across all countries. Overall, boys reported more hours of STBs. They also reported a slightly larger decrease in TV viewing and slightly larger increase in computer use. STBs were generally more frequent on weekend days.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall cross-national increases in STBs should be a call to action for public health practitioners, policy-makers, and researchers that interventions specifically focused on reducing STBs in youth are sorely needed. Because all countries experienced a trend in the same direction, it might be fruitful to learn more about the determinants of STBs among those countries in which hours of STBs are generally low as compared with other countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Prevention and Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany. Electronic address: jens.bucksch@uni-bielefeld.de.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bucksch
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Dagmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sigmundova
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Zdenek
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hamrik
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Philip Jay
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Troped
authors.affiliation: Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ole
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Melkevik
authors.affiliation: Health Scientist, Hyattsville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Namam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ahluwalia
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Paediatrics, University of Torino, Torino, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borraccino
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
authors.forename: Jorma
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tynjälä
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacký University Olomouc, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Michal
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kalman
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Health Research Unit, School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Inchley
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D003201:Computers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D012737:Sex Factors; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*
keywords: Cross-country comparison; Screen time; Secular trends; Sedentary behavior; Youth