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Updated: Apr 24, 2026
Measuring Cardiac Autonomic Nervous System ANS Activity in Children
Published on: April 29, 2013
Screen time and cardiometabolic function in Dutch 5-6 year olds: cross-sectional analysis of the ABCD-study
Mai J M Chinapaw1, Teatske M Altenburg, Manon van Eijsden
1Department of Public and Occupational Health and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Van der Boechorststraat 7, Amsterdam 1081 BT, The Netherlands. m.chinapaw@vumc.nl.
Background:
Evidence on the association between different screen behaviours and cardiometabolic biomarkers in children is limited. We examined the independent relationship of TV time and PC time with cardiometabolic biomarkers in Dutch 5-6 year old children.
Methods:
Cross-sectional analyses were conducted December 2012-March 2013 using data from a multi-ethnic cohort (the ABCD study, n = 1,961). TV and PC time and physical activity were assessed by parent-report. Body weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure were measured using a standard protocol. Fasting capillary blood samples were collected. A cardiometabolic function score was computed as the mean of the inverted standardised values of waist circumference, mean of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, glucose, HDLC (not inverted), and triglycerides.
Results:
Mean TV time was 1.2 (± 0.8) hr/day and mean PC time was 0.2 (± 0.4) hr/day. After adjustment for birth weight, height, maternal education, PC time, and physical activity, excessive TV time (>2 hrs/day) was adversely associated with waist circumference (b = 0.39, 95% CI: 0.004;0.78) while PC time was beneficially associated with HDLC levels (b = 0.04, 95% CI: 0.001;0.08). We found no additional significant associations of TV time, or PC time with any of the cardiometabolic biomarkers.
Conclusions:
We found no convincing evidence for an association between TV or PC time and cardiometabolic function in apparently healthy 5-6 yr olds.
