Children who spend more than one hour per day of their leisure time in front of a screen eat more junk food than other children, according to the study “Association between Leisure Screen Time and Junk Food Intake in a Nationwide Representative Sample of Spanish Children (1–14 Years): A Cross-Sectional Study” carried out by the Evaluation Group on Determining Factors in Health and Healthcare Policies. The pioneering study, published recently in the journal Healthcare, was led by researchers Àurea Cartanyà and Adrián González who analysed the relationship between the recreational use of screens and the consumption of unhealthy foods, such as sweets, sugary drinks, fast food and snacks in Spanish children between 1 and 14 years old.

“Our research provides evidence to support the hypothesis that spending a lot of time in front of a screen is associated with poorer dietary behaviour”, the authors say. They also point out that children in the 12 and 14 age bracket are the most likely to spend at least two hours of leisure time a day in front of screens, a percentage that amounts to 63.9%. These are also the children that consume the most sugary drinks (20.9 %) and fast food (12.2 %) within the focus group. In addition, the percentage of children who consume sweets and junk food is lower in those who practice sport several days a week, than in those who never exercise.

The socioeconomic status of families is another factor that may lead children to a less beneficial lifestyle, as “low-income families have lower wages, less flexible and longer working hours, which can cause children to spend longer periods using screens and parents to offer their children faster, but less nutritional, meal choices”, say the researchers.

Faced with these figures, the study’s authors are convinced that children’s exposure to screens will become a new health determinant over the coming years, as it is also related to insufficient hours of sleep, obesity, and an increased risk of developing emotional and behavioural disorders.