Relationship between screen time and nutrient intake in Japanese children and adolescents: a cross-sectional observational study.

BACKGROUND: Sedentary behaviors have recently become an important public health issue. We aimed to investigate the relationship between screen time and nutrient intake in children and adolescents. METHODS: The present study was conducted in 2013. Data were collected from children and adolescents aged between 6 and 15 years old in Shika town. Questionnaires were distributed to 1459 subjects, 1414 of whom participated in the study (96.9%). Sedentary behaviors were assessed based on participants' screen behaviors (television (TV) viewing, personal computer (PC) use, and mobile phone (MP) use). The main outcomes were the intake of nutrients from a validated food frequency questionnaire. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to examine the significance of differences in nutrient intake estimates. Multivariate linear regression analyses, adjusting for age, BMI, and physical activity, were used to provide parameter estimates (ß) and 95% CI for the relationship between screen time and nutrient intake. RESULTS: In boys, longer TV viewing times correlated or tended to correlate with a lower intake of protein, potassium, calcium, iron, vitamin K, vitamin B-2, and total dietary fiber. In girls, longer TV viewing times correlated with a lower intake of protein, sodium, calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B-2. Longer TV viewing times correlated with a higher intake of n-6 fatty acids in girls. PC use was related or tended to be related to a lower intake of potassium, iron, vitamin K, and folic acid in boys, but not in girls. A relationship was observed between MP use and a lower intake of vitamin K in boys, and MP use and a higher intake of vitamin D in girls. CONCLUSIONS: The present results revealed that longer TV viewing times are associated with less protein, minerals, vitamins, and total dietary fiber intake in children and adolescents. It was also revealed that boys with PC use have less minerals and vitamins. These results support the need to design intervention programs that focus on decreasing TV viewing time in both sexes and PC use in boys while encouraging adherence to dietary guidelines among children and adolescents.

The associations between lifestyles and mental health using the General Health Questionnaire 12-items are different dependently on age and sex: a population-based cross-sectional study in Kanazawa, Japan.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine potential differences of the associations between mental health and lifestyle factors across a wide range of age. METHODS: In August/September 2011, data were collected from 4693 males (age 51.6 ± 19.5) and 5678 females (age 52.4 ± 19.4) living in Kanazawa, Japan. A cross-sectional community-based survey was conducted with self-administered questionnaire including the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) 12-item version, sociodemographic, and lifestyle factors. Associations between the GHQ scores and other variables were examined using two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by multiple comparisons and logistic regression stratified by age and gender. RESULTS: Multiple comparisons indicated that people aged 20-39 or 40-64 had higher GHQ scores than older aged. The two-way ANOVA revealed significant interaction between body mass index and age group, and between exercise and age group. Overweight or underweight males aged 40-64 had poorer mental health than those at normal weight. In the elderly, being underweight was significantly associated with poor mental health. There were no significant effects of exercise on mental health for young adults. The logistic regression showed significant negative effects of short-time sleep in adults. CONCLUSIONS: The associations between mental health and lifestyles differ across age groups. Further study is needed to reveal effects of aging on lifestyle and mental health with a longitudinal design.

The relationship between hypertension and health-related quality of life: adjusted by chronic pain, chronic diseases, and life habits in the general middle-aged population in Japan.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between hypertension and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) adjusted by chronic pain, other chronic diseases, and life habits in the general middle-aged population in Japan. METHODS: This study is a population-based cross-sectional study. In this study, 1117 participants aged 40-65 years and living in Shika Town completed a self-administered questionnaire including Short Form-36 (SF-36). The scores of SF-36 among hypertensives were compared with those of normotensives. The independent association of hypertension with each SF-36 subscale was analyzed using a multiple linear regression model adjusted by age, BMI, chronic pain, chronic diseases, sleep, exercise, and occupational status. We analyzed two groups; Group 1 which contained 846 participants completed the questionnaire without coronary heart disease and cerebral vascular disease, Group 2 which contained 686 participants without coronary heart disease, cerebral vascular disease, or diseases accompanied by chronic pain (gastroduodenal ulcer, fracture, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and disc herniation). RESULTS: In Group 2, hypertensive women had a lower general health perception than normotensive women [unstandardized coefficients; B = -8.84, 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) = -13.3 to -4.34, standardized coefficients; ß = -0.200, p < 0.001], whereas hypertensive men had higher social functioning than normotensive men (B = 5.66, 95 % CI = 1.30-10.0, ß = 0.149, p < 0.05) after adjusting by chronic pain and life habits. CONCLUSIONS: These results may be due to the sex difference in the light of the perception for health.