Chronic Diseases in Canada

Volume 31, no. 2, March 2011

Screen time and risk behaviours in 10- to 16-year-old Canadian youth

Carson V. (1); Pickett W. (2,3); Janssen I. (1,2)

Background/Purpose/Objectives: To examine television, computer, and video game use as possible determinants of multiple risk behaviours (MRB) among Canadian youth.

Study design/Methods: Results were based on the Canadian 2005/06 Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children survey that included a representative cross-sectional sample of 8215 youth in grades 6 to 10, and a 1-year longitudinal sample of 1424 youth in grades 9 to 10. Participants were grouped into quartiles based on the total hours per week of television, video games, and computer use. Six risk behaviour variables (smoking, drunkenness, seatbelt use, cannabis use, illicit drug use, non-use of condoms) were combined to form an MRB score. We used ordinal and repeated measure logistic regression models to examine associations between screen time and MRB variables.

Results: High computer use is associated with approximately a 50% increased engagement of MRB in both samples. High television use is also associated with modestly increased engagement in MRB in the cross-sectional sample.

Prevalence and risk factors of asthma in off-reserve Canadian Aboriginal children

Chang H.J. (4); Senthilselvan A. (4)

Background/Purpose/Objectives: Asthma is a common chronic disorder among children; however, only a few studies have investigated asthma morbidity in Canadian Aboriginal children. This study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors for ever and current asthma in this population.

Study design/Methods: We used data for children aged 6 to 14 years from the 2006 Aboriginal Peoples Survey. Over 15 000 children living off-reserve participated in the survey. A child was considered to have asthma if there was a parental report of asthma diagnosis by a health professional.

Results: Among Canadian Aboriginal children living off-reserve, the prevalence of ever and current asthma is 14.3% and 5.7 %, respectively. Children of Inuit ancestry have significantly lower prevalence of asthma than children of North American Indian and Métis ancestries. Significant risk factors for ever asthma included male sex, allergy, low birth weight, obesity, dwelling needing repairs and urban residence. The associations between ever asthma and low income family, daycare attendance and psychological problems were borderline significant. The risk factors for current asthma were similar to those for ever asthma.

Conclusions: The risk factors for ever asthma observed for off-reserve Aboriginal children in our study were similar to those reported for non-Aboriginal children.

 

Author References

1. School of Kinesiology & Health Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
2. Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
3. Department of Emergency Medicine, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
4. Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada