OBJECTIVES: Excessive screen use in early school age is associated with worsened health habits and negative child development in later age. We aimed to assess the time spent on modern and traditional screen-based devices and examine its associations with socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: This population-based cross-sectional observation study was conducted in Czechia, Slovakia and Finland between April and June 2021. Participants (N = 1,915) were parents/caregivers of children attending elementary school grades 1 to 3, selected by stratified random sampling. Children's daily leisure screen time (LST) based on parental reports was the main outcome. Descriptive statistics, mean comparison and linear regression analysis were used for the analysis. RESULTS: The average daily LST was found to be as high as 3.5 hours and significantly associated with most socio-demographic variables. Eighty percent of children exceeded the threshold of two hours of LST per day, which was formerly introduced by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The most important predictor of LST in children was having their screen-based device(s) for their exclusive personal use (EPU). Linear regression with all predictors assessed together confirmed the significant effect of the screen-based devices' EPU, the child's sex and grade, the child's birth order and the parent's education, even when controlled for media parenting practices. CONCLUSIONS: Given the widespread availability of smartphones for exclusive personal use among young children, the regulation of EPU and the reinforcement of effective media parenting practices, particularly in families with lower education and income, are critical public health strategies to mitigate the negative impact of excessive screen time on child development and overall well-being.

• Klíčová slova
• children, computer, early school age, prevention, screen time, screen use, smartphone, tablet, television,
• MeSH
• čas strávený před obrazovkou * MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• průřezové studie MeSH
• sociodemografické faktory MeSH
• socioekonomické faktory MeSH
• volnočasové aktivity * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• multicentrická studie MeSH
• pozorovací studie MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika epidemiologie   MeSH
• Finsko epidemiologie   MeSH
• Slovenská republika epidemiologie   MeSH

OBJECTIVES: It has been known that social environments are associated with adolescents' health. However, the complex relationship between diverse types of social environments and adolescents' psychosomatic heath remained unclear. Thus, using an ecological perspective, the current study aimed to examine the associations between social environment and adolescents' psychosomatic health. METHODS: We used the data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) project conducted in the Czech Republic in 2018. A total of 13377 observations were included. RESULTS: The region, as a macrosystem, could not explain the variance in adolescents' psychological and somatic health. The quality of neighborhood environment (exosystem) was significantly related to adolescents' psychological and somatic health. At the microsystem level, teacher support had stronger, family support had weaker, and peer support had no association with psychological and somatic health. At the mesosystem level, the interactions between family, teacher, and friend support were negligible for adolescents' psychological and somatic health. CONCLUSIONS: The results underscore the importance of teachers' support and neighborhood environment for adolescents' psychosomatic health. Therefore, the findings suggest the need to improve teacher-adolescent relationships and the neighborhood community quality.

• Klíčová slova
• HBSC, adolescent, ecological perspective, psychosomatic health, social environment,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH