Joint association of screen time and physical activity on self-rated health and life satisfaction in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-IV study.
Self-rated health and life satisfaction are two subjective measures for assessing overall health status. This study aims to investigate the association of self-rated health and life satisfaction with physical activity and screen time.



As part of the fourth survey of a national surveillance program in Iran (CASPIAN-IV study), 14 880 students aged 6 to 18 years were selected via multi-stage cluster sampling from 30 provinces. Data were obtained from the WHO Global School-Based Student Health Survey questionnaire.



A total of 13 486 students with mean age of 12.47 (SD 3.36) completed the study. In crude model both prolonged screen time and physical activity were associated with favorable life satisfaction and self-rated health. However, in multivariate analysis only high physical activity was associated with good self-rated health (OR 1.37) and life satisfaction (OR 1.39), while prolonged screen time was not associated with good self-rated health (OR 1.02) and life satisfaction (OR 0.94). For combined screen time-physical activity variable, low screen time-high physical activity combination had the highest OR for both good self-rated health (OR 1.37) and life satisfaction (OR 1.43) in multivariate analysis.



Our findings suggest that increasing physical activity is more crucial than emphasizing reducing screen time in improving the well-being of children and adolescents.
Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nassim
N
Matin
Child Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Roya
R
Kelishadi
Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Ramin
R
Heshmat
Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nazgol
N
Motamed-Gorji
Development of Research & Technology Center, Deputy of Research and Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.
Shirin
S
Djalalinia
Department of Pediatrics, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
Mohammad Esmaeil
ME
Motlagh
Child Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
Gelayol
G
Ardalan
Department of Exercise Physiology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Tahereh
T
Arefirad
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Rasool
R
Mohammadi
Managerial Epidemiology Research Center, Department of Public Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Maragheh University of Medical Sciences, Maragheh, Iran.
Saeid
S
Safiri
Dietary Supplements and Probiotics Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran mqorbani1379@yahoo.com.|Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mostafa
M
Qorbani
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012574:Schools; D057566:Self Report; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D013690:Television
Adolescents; Children; Life satisfaction; Physical activity; Screen time; Self-rated health