Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: Childhood obesity is a becoming growing epidemic in the United States, and screen time has been noted as a correlate. Obesity disproportionally affects Latino children, and Latino children may be more susceptible to engaging in greater screen time. Screen time behaviors established in youth are likely to carry over and have been shown to track into adulthood,1 predisposing them to life-long unhealthy lifestyle habits. Furthermore, sedentary behavior, which is primarily comprised of screen-based activities,2 has been linked to overweight and obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and all-cause mortality.3-5 With the growing Latino population in the United States, the overall purpose of this study is to identify the effect of acculturation proxies (generational status and language use) on screen time in 6-11 year old Latino children mediated by parental limit setting of screen time. Data was extracted from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), providing a final sample of 3127 children. The relationships between generational status and language use with screen time mediated by parental limit setting were investigated using a mediation analysis as proposed by Baron and Kenny’s steps for mediation. We did not find support that parental limit setting mediated the relationship between generational status and screen time. However, parental limit setting was responsible for an average of 1.6 minutes/day less screen time accounting for 11% of the relationship between language use and screen time. Although the mediation effect of parental limit setting contributed minimally to this association, parental limit setting had a significant effect on reducing child screen time by approximately an hour. Future research should further explore the protective role of parent limit setting in reducing excessive screen time in Latino children, and how this relationship may vary by generational status or language use.
Author: Neil P. Sharma
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2908016970