Little physical activity and excessive use of screens, this is the lifestyle of Spanish children and young people

2023-09-29 12:11:23

Within the framework of the study STEPS-2019 on physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and obesity among young Spaniards, research led by the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), has identified six behavior patterns related to the health habits of Spanish children and adolescents.

“We see that among younger children, two unhealthy habits are already beginning to be associated, such as lack of physical activity and excessive screen time.

In teenagersto the pattern described for children is added a low adherence to the Mediterranean diethours of sleep below the recommendations and a high prevalence of overweight and obesity,” explains Augusto García Zapico, principal investigator of the study from the Faculty of Education-Teacher Training Center of the UCM and the IMFINE research group of the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

Among younger children, two habits are already associated, such as lack of physical activity and excess screen time. In adolescents, this is compounded by low adherence to the Mediterranean diet, few hours of sleep and a high prevalence of overweight and obesity.

Augusto García Zapico, principal investigator

This study, published in the journal Pediatric Researchis the first to be done with a representative sample of the national population from 8 to 16 years oldmixing data on healthy habits with anthropometric data from a total of 3,261 children from all Spanish communities.

Regarding differences by sex, it has been observed thatGirls and adolescent women do less physical activity on average than their male peers. In any case, only 36.2% of the total participants in the study meet the daily physical exercise recommendations of the World Health Organization.

Bad practices, sometimes associated

The analysis showed that certain habits appeared associated: low levels of physical activity and high screen use were frequently found together, as well as participants who had low adherence to the Mediterranean diet spent more time in front of screens.

“The results serve to have a snapshot of habits related to the health of this population. It is necessary to know the situation to know where we should intervene and to be able to evaluate the effect that certain public policy have in these indicators,” says García Zapico.

Only by doing this educational work will we ensure that society implements real measures so that our young people acquire healthy behavior patterns that ensure better health in adult life.

Augusto García Zapico

The period of childhood and adolescence is fundamental for ingrain healthy habits and prevent the development of non-communicable diseases. “Society is not aware of the serious health problems that new generations face. Only by doing this educational work will we ensure that society implements real measures so that our young people acquire healthy behavior patterns that ensure better health in adult life,” concludes the professor.

Bibliographic reference:

Zapico , AG , Aparicio-Ugarriza , R. , Quesada-Gonzalez , C. et al. “Lifestyle behaviors clusters in a nationwide sample of Spanish children and adolescents: PASOS study”. Pediatric Research (2023).

Rights: Creative Commons.