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Screen Use, Physical Activity and Indoor/Outdoor Environments
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Screen Use, Physical Activity and Indoor/Outdoor Environments

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Global Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2021) | Viewed by 20004

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Michael Rosenberg

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Human Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA 6009, Australia
Interests: evaluation; health promotion; sports medicine; physical activity; public health; sports science
Dr. Clover Maitland

E-Mail Website
Assistant Guest Editor
Cetnre for Behavioural Research in Cancer, Melbourne, Australia
Interests: physical activity; indoor environments; children; technology; health promotion interventions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the intersection between screen use and physical activity across both indoor and outdoor environments. Regular participation in physical activity provides important health benefits for children and adults. Nonetheless, in many countries, population levels of physical activity are low. This is at least partly attributable to an increase in sedentary screen use during leisure and occupational time.

There is strong evidence already for the influence of outdoor environmental factors on physical activity participation. However, children and adults in developed countries now spend the vast majority of their time in indoor environments such as at home, work, and school, which are more likely to facilitate screen use and limit physical activity. Technological advances have largely led to an increase in screen use and sedentariness at a population level. Nevertheless, technology, including screens, also has the capacity to facilitate physical activity, with examples including active gaming, physical activity apps, and smartphone monitoring.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore the role the screens within the continuum of sedentary behaviour and physical activity across the indoor and outdoor environments in which we live. We particularly see this Special Issue as an opportunity to advance the evidence around screen use and physical activity in indoor environments and explore the potential and seemingly contradictory role of screen use in promoting physical activity.

Dr. Michael Rosenberg
Dr. Clover Maitland
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • screens
  • technology
  • physical activity
  • sedentary behaviour
  • indoor environment
  • outdoor environment

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 507 KiB  
Article
Left to Their Own Devices? A Mixed Methods Study Exploring the Impacts of Smartphone Use on Children’s Outdoor Experiences
by Jonas Vestergaard Nielsen and Jan Arvidsen
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(6), 3115; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18063115 - 18 Mar 2021
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 8465
Abstract
The growing use of smartphones has been pointed out as one of the main reasons for the decrease in children’s outdoor time. However, there is still a gap in our understanding of how smartphone use affects children’s outdoor experiences and activities. The aim [...] Read more.
The growing use of smartphones has been pointed out as one of the main reasons for the decrease in children’s outdoor time. However, there is still a gap in our understanding of how smartphone use affects children’s outdoor experiences and activities. The aim of the study is to explore children’s dependency on their smartphones, what smartphone functions children use when outdoors and how smartphone use affects children’s outdoor experiences. The study uses a mixed methods design which implements interviews with a small sample of children (N = 34) in order to help develop a questionnaire for a larger sample (N = 1148). Both datasets are included in the analysis with a complimentary perspective. The results suggest that children are highly dependent on having their smartphones available as an integrated part of their lives. However, smartphones also create favorable conditions for rich and valuable outdoor lives by expanding children’s and parents’ sense of security, children’s outdoor sociality, and children’s opportunities to mold their outdoor experiences. We stress that children’s passion for the digital world needs to be reconsidered as not ‘all bad’, but more as a condition in modern children’s lives and an asset to embrace in future strategies for actively engaging children in outdoor activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Screen Use, Physical Activity and Indoor/Outdoor Environments)
13 pages, 345 KiB  
Article
A Ban on Smartphone Usage during Recess Increased Children’s Physical Activity
by Charlotte Skau Pawlowski, Jonas Vestergaard Nielsen and Tanja Schmidt
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1907; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041907 - 16 Feb 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5861
Abstract
School recess provides a unique opportunity for children to be active. However, many children perceive smartphones as a key barrier for engaging in physical activity during recess. The aim was to investigate if a ban on smartphone usage during recess changed children’s physical [...] Read more.
School recess provides a unique opportunity for children to be active. However, many children perceive smartphones as a key barrier for engaging in physical activity during recess. The aim was to investigate if a ban on smartphone usage during recess changed children’s physical activity. During August–October 2020, children from grades 4–7 (10–14 years) at six Danish schools were banned from using their smartphones during recess for a four-week period. Questionnaire and systematic observation (SOPLAY) data were collected from 814 children before intervention (baseline) and 828 during the last week of intervention (follow-up). The mean frequency of physical activity significantly increased from baseline to follow-up (odds ratio = 1.370), as did physical activity on a moderate level (odds ratio = 1.387). Vigorous physical activity significantly decreased (odds ratio = 0.851). The increase in physical activity was found among both schools having outdoor and indoor recess, among both boys and girls, and nearly equally among grades 4–7. This suggests that implementing a ban on smartphone usage during recess would improve the everyday conditions for health among a broad range of schoolchildren. Future studies are needed to further investigate the association between recess physical activity and smartphone usage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Screen Use, Physical Activity and Indoor/Outdoor Environments)
11 pages, 297 KiB  
Article
Associations between Parental and Child Screen Time and Quality of the Home Environment: A Preliminary Investigation
by Parveen Attai, Jacqueline Szabat, Stephanie Anzman-Frasca and Kai Ling Kong
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(17), 6207; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17176207 - 27 Aug 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5152
Abstract
(1) Background: The recommendation for screen use among preschool-aged children is ≤ 1 h per day. We aimed to assess the relationship between parental and child screen use and home environment characteristics. (2) Methods: Thirty-six 3–to-4-year-old healthy children were recruited. Parents reported their [...] Read more.
(1) Background: The recommendation for screen use among preschool-aged children is ≤ 1 h per day. We aimed to assess the relationship between parental and child screen use and home environment characteristics. (2) Methods: Thirty-six 3–to-4-year-old healthy children were recruited. Parents reported their own and their child’s weekday and weekend daytime screen use. The child’s home environment and parent-child interactions were assessed using the Infant-Toddler Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (IT-HOME). Analyses were run to identify relationships between parental and child screen use and the six subscales of the IT-HOME: Responsivity, Acceptance, Organization, Learning Materials, Involvement and Variety. (3) Results: Parents’ weekend screen use was correlated to parental responsivity and variety of people and events at home. These relationships remained significant after adjusting for maternal education and number of children at home (Responsivity β = 7.30 (95% CI: 1.75, 12.86), p = 0.012) and (Variety β = −2.45, (95% CI: −4.58, −0.31), p = 0.026). There was a trend level association between low child’s weekend screen use and high presence of learning materials. Other aspects of screen time were not associated with home environment characteristics. (4) Conclusions: Higher parental screen use predicted lower variety and greater parental responsivity, the latter of which was an unexpected finding. Administering the IT-HOME alongside a screen use questionnaire may offer the opportunity for a more comprehensive representation of home environments in today’s society. Future research can also clarify facets of parental screen use (e.g., co-viewing, timing) that are more vs. less likely to impact children. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Screen Use, Physical Activity and Indoor/Outdoor Environments)
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