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Associated Trends in Sedentary Behavior and BMI Among Chinese School Children and Adolescents in Seven Diverse Chinese Provinces

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Abstract

Background

Overweight and obesity is becoming a public health concern in China.

Objective

We examined associated trends in sedentary behavior and body mass index (BMI) among school children and adolescents from seven diverse Chinese provinces from 1997 to 2004.

Method

Sequential multiple regressions were conducted with combined cross-sectional data derived from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (N = 5,497) to assess relationships between sedentary behavior and BMI.

Results

Between 1997 and 2004, the amount of time children (6- to 11-year-olds) spent engaging in sedentary behavior increased from 1.71 to 3.14 h/day (p < 0.05), while the amount of time adolescents (12- to 18-year-olds) spent engaging in sedentary behavior increased from 1.71 to 3.50 h/day (p < 0.05). Studying before and after school and watching TV/videos each accounted for about half the increase in sedentary behavior. Both watching TV/videos and studying before and after school were significantly and positively associated with BMI in males, but not in females.

Conclusion

With the growing amount of time Chinese school children and adolescents study outside of school and watch TV/videos, Chinese youth are increasingly likely to become more overweight unless population-based prevention actions are taken.

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Acknowledgment

We thank the Chinese CDC and the Carolina Population Center for providing the datasets of the China Health and Nutrition Survey, funded by the NIH (R01-HD30880, DK056350, and R01-HD38700). We also thank the thousands of Chinese people who contributed their time to provide the data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of NCD Control and Community Health, Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, P. R., China

    Juan Zhang

  2. Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA

    Dong-Chul Seo, Lloyd Kolbe & Susan Middlestadt

  3. National Center for Chronic and Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC, Beijing, China

    Wenhua Zhao

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  1. Juan Zhang
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  2. Dong-Chul Seo
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  3. Lloyd Kolbe
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  4. Susan Middlestadt
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  5. Wenhua Zhao
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Correspondence to Juan Zhang.

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Zhang, J., Seo, DC., Kolbe, L. et al. Associated Trends in Sedentary Behavior and BMI Among Chinese School Children and Adolescents in Seven Diverse Chinese Provinces. Int.J. Behav. Med. 19, 342–350 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-011-9177-2

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