Sitting time among adolescents across 26 Asia-Pacific countries: a population-based study

To assess the prevalence of sitting time (ST) and examine sex and age disparities in the prevalence among adolescents from Asia-Pacific countries.

We used the Global School-based Student Health Survey data (n = 101,785) from 26 Asia-Pacific countries and computed the pooled prevalence of high ST (≥ 3 h/day) using random effect meta-analysis. We used logistic regression to examine sex and age disparities in the prevalence, and meta-regression to assess whether the prevalence was associated with common global indices.

The overall prevalence of ST was 29.9% (95% CI 24.1-35.8) with 29.8% (24.4-35.2) among male and 29.9% (23.4-36.3) female adolescents. Males had higher odds of high ST than females in seven countries, while females had higher odds in six countries. Older adolescents had higher prevalence than their younger counterparts. High ST was more common in high-income countries and was positively associated with country Human Development Index (β = 1.28, 95% CI 0.88-1.68).

Continued monitoring of adolescents' ST is warranted in this region to generate consistent and comparable surveillance data that can inform policies and actions for the health and well-being of the regional adolescents.