Home and Neighborhood Environment Predictors of Adolescents' Screen Viewing

Background: Nowadays, the majority of adolescents exceed the AAP guidelines for screen use and this is likely to be a risk factor for obesity. The current study aims at investigating adolescent screen viewing in the context of home and neighborhood environment. Methods: A sample of 1141 adolescents as well as their parents participated in this survey. Adolescents were asked to complete a questionnaire about time spent on screen viewing behaviors. Respectively, parents completed a questionnaire concerning environmental predictors. Results: Almost two-thirds of the adolescents surveyed spend more than 2 hours per day on screen entertainment, with boys dealing with personal computers (PCs) and electronic games more than girls. The likelihood for an adolescent to exceed 2 hours of screen time is 3.87 times more when he has his meals in front of a TV screen on a daily basis, 1.69 times more when the TV is on, often as not on his return from school and 1.74 times more when there is a PC in the adolescent's bedroom. Conclusion: Certain environmental predictors influence adolescents' screen time, as a result, corrective intervention should aim at the family as a whole, as this whole shapes home environment.