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Table 3 Proportion of boys and girls with low active play, high screen time, or both behaviors*

From: Active play and screen time in US children aged 4 to 11 years in relation to sociodemographic and weight status characteristics: a nationally representative cross-sectional analysis

Gender

 

Boys

Girls

Percentage (95% confidence interval) †

Low active play §

4 to 11 years overall

31.4% (28.0% – 34.7%)

43.4% (39.3% – 47.6%)***

4–5 years

27.2% (21.2% – 33.2%)

35.1% (29.5% – 40.6%)+

6–8 years

25.7% (21.5% – 30.0%)

39.4% (34.3% – 44.6%)***

9–11 years

39.3% (32.0% – 46.6%)

52.9% (45.6% – 60.2%)***

p trend age §§

0.008

<0.0001

High screen time ‡

4 to 11 years overall

67.7% (63.6% – 72.1%)

62.0% (58.1% – 65.8%)***

4–5 years

60.6% (53.0% – 68.2%)

55.6% (48.4% – 62.9%)

6–8 years

65.4% (60.0% – 70.8%)

62.0% (55.9% – 68.2%)

9–11 years

74.4% (68.3% – 80.6%)

66.3% (61.0% – 71.6%)+

p trend age §§

<0.0001

0.011

Both low active play & high screen time

4 to 11 years overall

23.7% (21.0% – 26.3%)

29.1% (25.5% – 32.7%)***

4–5 years

18.9% (13.2% – 24.6%)

19.4% (14.7% – 24.2%)

6–8 years

18.8% (15.4% – 22.2%)

26.9% (22.0% – 31.8%)***

9–11 years

31.2% (24.9% – 37.5%)

37.7% (31.0% – 44.3%)

p trend age §§

0.004

<0.0001

  1. *Proportion of boys and girls with low levels of active play, and/or greater than 2 hours per day of screen time by age category in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001–2004. Estimates are weighted to be representative of US children age 4 to 11 years.
  2. † Percentage (95% Confidence Interval) calculated accounting for complex survey design.
  3. § Low active play defined as reported to play or exercise hard enough to sweat or breathe hard less than 7 times per week.
  4. ‡ High screen time defined as >2 hours per day; Screen time includes time spent watching television or videos, and using computers or computer-games.
  5. §§ P value from logistic regressions by gender with age in years (at last birthday) as predictor, accounting for complex survey design.
  6. + Prevalence in girls different than prevalence in same age boys: Wald Chi-square, p < 0.1.
  7. *** Prevalence in girls significantly different than prevalence in same age boys: Wald Chi-square, p < 0.01.