title: Association between screen time and snack consumption in children and adolescents: The CASPIAN-IV study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The relationship between screen time (ST) and the frequency of snack consumption in a national sample of Iranian children and adolescents was assessed. The present nationwide survey was conducted on 14,880 school students living in urban and rural areas of 30 provinces in Iran. Trained healthcare providers conducted the physical examination and completed the questionnaire of the World Health Organization - Global School-Based Student Health Survey (WHO-GSHS).
  
  
  METHODS
  The association between ST (total time spent watching TV and using a computer in leisure time) and the frequency of snack consumption was determined using ordinal logistic regression analysis. The subjects were 13,486 students out of the 14,880 invited including 50.8% boys. The mean (SD) age of participants was 12.47 (3.36) years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In multivariate models, for students who had prolonged ST (more than 4 h/day), the odds of daily consumption of sweets (odds ratio, OR 1.25; 95% CI 1.14-1.4), salty snacks (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.5-1.76), soft drinks (OR 1.52; 95% CI 1.4-1.7), canned fruit juice (OR 1.3; 95% CI 1.2-1.4), and fast food (OR 1.53; 95% CI 1.4-1.7) were higher compared to those with low ST. Furthermore, the odds of daily consumption of milk in students who had prolonged ST (more than 4 h/day) were lower compared to those with low ST (OR 0.9; 95% CI 0.8-0.99).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Prolonged time spent watching TV and using a computer during leisure time might be associated with unhealthy dietary habits. Moreover, inactivity induced by prolonged ST may also lead to unhealthy dietary habits and in turn excess weight in children and adolescents.
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelishadi
authors.forename: Nafiseh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mozafarian
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qorbani
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Maracy
authors.forename: Mohammad Esmaeil
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Motlagh
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Safiri
authors.forename: Gelayol
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ardalan
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asayesh
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rezaei
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Heshmat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D007899:Leisure Activities / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D062410:Snacks; D013690:Television / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*