TV And Computer Screen Time May Be Associated With High Blood Pressure In Young Children

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090803173127.htm

ScienceDaily (Aug. 4, 2009) — Sedentary behaviors such as TV viewing and "screen time" involving computer use, videos and video games appear to be associated with elevated blood pressure in children, independent of body composition, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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The children's average sedentary time and screen time per day were five hours and 1.5 hours, respectively. Boys spent more time using computers than girls, but there were no significant differences in time spent on other sedentary behaviors. "Sedentary activity was not significantly related to systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure after controlling for age, sex, height and percentage of body fat. However, TV viewing and screen time, but not computer use, were positively associated with both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure after adjusting for potential confounders," the authors write. "Participants in the lowest tertile [one-third] of TV and screen time had significantly lower levels of systolic and diastolic blood pressure than participants in the upper tertile."