A Relationship Between Technology and Consumption and Exercise Behaviors Among Youth

Purpose: The rate of obesity among children and adolescents has more than doubled since the 1970s, with nearly 18% of youth 6-11 years old and 21% of youth 12-19 years old considered overweight or obese in 2012. Increased body mass index (BMI) and subsequently body fat at an early age increases the risk of developing health risk problems, such as obesity, throughout childhood and adulthood. Access to, and increased availability of, technology is an important factor to consider as rates of obesity among youth increases. Literature examining obesity and sedentary activities points to a relationship between these two factors. Interestingly, there is also a link between BMI and consumption and exercise behaviors among youth. The purpose of this study, is to examine the relationship between sedentary behaviors, specifically technology-based activities, and consumption and exercise behaviors among youth.

Methods: The current study employed a secondary data analysis utilizing data from the Human Behavior in School-aged Children Survey (N = 9,880). Nearly 50% of the sample identified as female with an approximate mean age of 14. Approximately 42% identified as White, 15% identified as African American, and 26% identified as Hispanic. The variables of interest include (1) technology-based sedentary activities: computer use, computer games, and television use; (2) consumption behaviors, created using seven dichotomous items regarding eating or drinking habits, with scores ranging from 0-7, with higher scores indicating healthier consumption behaviors (mean = 3.76), and (3) exercise behaviors, created using a mean computation technique with three levels (low/ none, moderate, or high) based loosely on the recommended level of physical activity (mean = 2.38).

Results: A chi-square analysis was utilized in order to examine the relationship between the technology-based sedentary activities and consumption behaviors, which indicated a significant relationship between consumption behaviors and technology-based sedentary activities (p-values > .001 for all three technology-based activities: computer use, computer games, and television use). The Spearman Rho correlation was used to examine the relationship between exercise behaviors and technology-based activities, which indicated significant, negative, relationships between exercise behaviors and computer use, computer games, and television use (-.056, -.087, and -.113, respectively), meaning that while technology-based activities increased, exercise behaviors decreased. While these relationships are significant, they are not strongly correlated, which might point to other factors that influence exercise behaviors more so than technology-based activities.

Implications for practice: It is important to continue examining the effects technology-based activities have on child wellbeing, such as consumption and exercise behaviors, given the link between consumption and exercise behaviors and BMI as well as the link between technology-based activities and BMI. Additionally, as access to and engagement in these technology-based activities continues to rise, future research could potentially use technology to increase awareness of healthy eating and exercise initiatives targeting youth across different age groups, particularly among overweight and obese youth.