Sedentary patterns and media availability in European adolescents: The HELENA study

Objective: To describe sedentary behaviors in adolescents and to examine the influence of media availability on TV viewing. Method: The study assessed 3278 adolescents (1537 males and 1741 females, 12.5-17.5. years) involved in the HELENA study (2007). Adolescents reported hours of TV viewing, computer games, console, internet for study and non-study reasons, and study, as well as availability of TVs, computers and consoles. Results: Time spent in sedentary behaviors was higher during weekends (all . p2. h/day) based solely on TV viewing, whereas around 60% exceeded it at weekends. Having a TV or a console in the bedroom was associated with higher TV viewing (OR. =2.66; 95% CI 2.23-3.18; and OR. =1.92; 95% CI 1.61-2.28, respectively) whereas the presence of computer reduced it (OR. =0.57; 95% CI 0.48-0.68). Conclusion: Adolescents living in Europe are not meeting media recommendations, especially during weekend. The absence of a TV in the adolescents' bedroom might reduce TV viewing. Further studies are needed to confirm or contrast our findings. © 2010 Elsevier Inc.
The HELENA Study was carried out with financial support of the European Community Sixth RTD Framework Programme (Contract FOOD-CT-2005-007034). This study was also supported by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Health: Maternal, Child Health and Development Network (number RD08/0072) and the Spanish Ministry of Education (EX-2007-1124, EX-2008-0641, DEP2007- 29933-E, AP2006-02464), Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research, the ALPHA study and the Swedish Heart Lung Foundation (20090635). JP Rey-López was supported by Fundación Cuenca Villoro (Spain).