Effects of screen time per day on the growth of body composition and on the development of motor ability in Japanese children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between screen time, body composition and physique, and motor ability (25 m Run, Standing long jump, Softball throw, Body support duration, Continuous jump over) . The study consists of 95 healthy children (53 boys and 42 girls) aged 4-6 years old.
First to gather data the parents were asked about their children's daily habits. Then the Martin method was used to measure physique and bioelectrical impedance analysis was used to measure body composition. A motor ability test was also administered. The results suggest that screen time has an effect on body composition and certain motor ability. The average screen time of the sample was over 2 hours per day. The sample group was divided into 3 groups by length of children who spend longer in front of a screen tended to have poorer motor ability. This was especially clear with the throwing a softball test.