Nowhere to Go and Nothing to Do but Sit? Youth Screen Time and the Association With Access to Neighborhood Destinations. (January 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Christian, Hayley; Zubrick, Stephen R.; Knuiman, Matthew; Nathan, Andrea; Foster, Sarah; Villanueva, Karen; Giles-Corti, Billie
• Is Part Of: Environment and behavior. Volume 49:Number 1(2017:Jan.)
• Page Start: 84
• Page End: 108
• Publication Date: 2017-01
• Subjects: built environment -- screen time -- sedentary behavior -- youth -- neighborhood; Human ecology -- Periodicals; 304.2
• DOI: 10.1177/0013916515606189
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-9165

Abstract

With not much to do in their neighborhood, youth may spend more time in the home engaged in screen-based activities. Screen time data from 2, 790 youth in the Western Australian Health and Wellbeing Survey were linked to objectively measured count of types of neighborhood "services, " "convenience goods, " "public open space, " and "youth-related" destinations. On average, youth accrued 801 mean min/week screen time and had access to seven different types of neighborhood destinations. A larger number of different types of neighborhood "youth-related, " "service, " and "total" destinations were associated with less screen time (all p ≤ .05). A significant gender interaction was observed. Girls with access to ≥12 youth-related destinations had 109 fewer mean min/week screen time, compared with girls with 0 to 3 youth-related destinations. Providing alternatives to screen use by ensuring access to a variety of neighborhood places for structured and unstructured activities may be an important strategy for decreasing youth screen time.