Abstract
Studies have shown the potential effects of sedentary behavior and physical activity on not only physical and mental health but also academic performance in children. Nevertheless, studies have only focused on either sedentary behavior or physical activity. Examining the joint effects of both behaviors on academic performance provides detailed insights into the patterns of these behaviors in relation to children’s academic achievement. The present study investigated the joint longitudinal associations of physical activity and screen time with academic performance among Japanese children. The screen time and physical activity of 261 children aged 7–10 years were assessed, and their academic performance was evaluated one year later. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the joint associations of screen time and physical activity with academic performance adjusted for demographic characteristics. Children with low screen time and physical activity had 2.04 (95% confidence interval: 1.11–3.78) times greater odds of having high academic performance compared to children with high screen time and low physical activity, while children with low screen time and high physical activity had 2.75 (1.17–6.43) times greater odds (boys; 4.12 (1.19–14.24)). Low screen time was related to high academic performance after one year, regardless of the physical activity level.
Highlights
High levels of sedentary behavior and insufficient physical activity are associated with poor health such as obesity, cardiometabolic health risks, and mental health problems [1,2,3]
We found that Japanese children with lower screen time had 2.0–2.7 times greater odds of having high academic performance, regardless of their physical activity level
This suggests that children who engaged in more sedentary behavior had higher academic performance, regardless of physical activity level, than those who engaged in less sedentary behavior
Summary
High levels of sedentary behavior and insufficient physical activity are associated with poor health such as obesity, cardiometabolic health risks, and mental health problems [1,2,3]. Several current physical activity guidelines [4,5] recommend no more than two hours per day of recreational screen time (i.e., watching TV, DVDs, or videos, playing TV games, and using computers or the Internet), limiting the amount of sedentary transportation (e.g., car travel), and avoiding prolonged periods of sitting. The World Health Organization recommends that children and adolescents. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 757; doi:10.3390/ijerph17030757 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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