Screen Time and Physical Activity Pattern of School Children (11-17 Years) from Different Cultural Regions of Punjab, India

Aim: To assess regional disparity in the screen time and physical activity pattern of school children (11-17 years) from Punjab (India).

Study Design: A school-based cross sectional survey.

Place and Duration of Study: Government schools of three regions of Punjab, namely, Majha, Doaba and Malwa region, between June to December 2015.

Methodology: A survey was conducted including 1050 children, randomly selected from government schools of three regions of Punjab, namely, Majha (n=210), Doaba (n=210) and Malwa (n=630), to obtain information on their physical activity pattern (school sports, leisure time physical activity/LTPA and mode of commuting to school) and screen time.

Results: Malwa region children were spending more time (7.2 h/wk) in school sports than Majha (6.3 h/wk) and Doaba region (6.6 h/wk) children. Majha region children were spending more time (6.0 h/wk) in LTPA than Doaba (3.5 h/wk) and Malwa region (5.4 h/wk) children; whereas, Doaba (11.7 h/wk) region children had higher screen time than Majha (8.9 h/wk) and Malwa region (9.2 h/wk) children. Significant (P≤0.01) regional disparity was noted in the mean time spent by school children in LTPA and screen activities; whereas, no regional difference was found in the mean time spent in school sports. The percentage of active commuters was more from Doaba region (96%) as compared to Majha (89%) and Malwa (88%) region. Most (85, 85 and 72%) of the children from Majha, Doaba and Malwa region had low screen time, respectively.

Conclusion: Based on AAP and WHO levels, irrespective of region, school children studied had adequate physical activity level, low screen time and were mostly active commuters.