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Table 5 Proportion with low active play, high screen time, or both behaviors by race/ethnicity*

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

 

Mexican American

non-Hispanic white

non-Hispanic black

  

Percentage (95% confidence interval)†

 

Low active play §

 

Boys

 

4 to 11 years overall

36.4% (30.5% – 42.2%)

29.8% (24.9% – 34.7%)

31.5% (25.9% – 37.1%)

4–5 years

36.2% (23.6% – 48.7%)

23.8% (15.3% – 32.4%)

31.0% (18.8% – 43.3%)

6–8 years

37.1% (28.9% – 45.3%)

24.1% (18.5% – 29.6%)

28.2% (22.0% – 34.4%)+b

9–11 years

35.7% (25.8% – 45.6%)

38.8% (27.7% – 49.8%)

34.5% (27.4% – 41.6%)

High screen time ‡

4 to 11 years overall

60.6% (54.5% – 66.7%)

66.3% (61.1% – 71.4%)

78.7% (74.6% – 82.8%)*** ac

4–5 years

50.1% (40.0% – 60.2%)

62.6% (52.8% – 72.4%)

70.0% (61.4% – 77.9%)**c

6–8 years

63.4% (54.9% – 71.9%)

61.5% (54.2% – 68.9%)

76.4% (69.3% – 83.4%)**ac

9–11 years

64.4% (55.9% – 73.0%)

73.0% (64.4% – 81.6%)

85.3% (79.1% – 91.5%)***ac

Both low active play & high screen time

4 to 11 years overall

24.5% (20.2% – 28.9%)

21.8% (17.7% – 25.9%)

27.2% (22.2% – 32.2%)

4–5 years

22.5% (12.7% – 32.3%)

15.3% (6.7% – 23.9%)

26.5% (15.9% – 37.2%)

6–8 years

25.2% (18.2% – 32.3%)

16.6% (11.7% – 21.6%)

23.8% (17.2% – 30.3%)+b

9–11 years

25.1% (17.8% – 32.4%)

30.6% (20.1% – 41.0%)

30.4% (24.1% – 36.7%)

Low active play §

 

Girls

 

4 to 11 years overall

44.0% (37.5% – 50.4%)

42.5% (36.4% – 48.5%)

40.6% (34.8% – 46.4%)

4–5 years

35.9% (26.6% – 45.2%)

34.7% (24.7% – 44.6%)

31.7% (22.4% – 41.0%)

6–8 years

43.6% (29.8% – 44.4%)

37.1% (29.8% – 44.4%)

37.3% (29.7% – 44.9%)

9–11 years

49.9% (39.0% – 60.9%)

52.5% (41.7% – 63.4%)

49.6% (41.9% – 57.3%)

High screen time ‡

4 to 11 years overall

56.9% (51.3% – 62.5%)

60.3% (55.1% – 65.5%)

76.2% (71.6% – 80.7%)*** ac

4–5 years

48.9% (40.5% – 57.3%)

53.7% (43.1% – 64.3%)

71.1% (63.2% – 79.0%)***ac

6–8 years

60.0% (52.2% – 67.3%)

59.3% (50.6% – 67.9%)

79.3% (73.9% – 84.8%)***ac

9–11 years

59.8% (51.3% – 68.2%)

65.8% (58.4% – 73.2%)

75.6% (66.1% – 85.1%)+c

Both low active play & high screen time

4 to 11 years overall

24.7% (20.6% – 28.8%)

27.8% (22.7% – 33.0%)

31.9% (27.9% – 36.0%) +c

4–5 years

18.1% (11.2% – 24.9%)

18.1% (10.6% – 25.7%)

24.0% (17.1% – 30.9%)

6–8 years

26.6% (20.9% – 32.3%)

24.3% (17.4% – 31.1%)

30.9% (23.4% – 38.3%)

9–11 years

27.4% (19.6% – 35.1%)

37.3% (27.3% – 47.3%)

37.8% (30.1% – 45.5%)

  1. Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared).
  2. *Proportion of boys and girls with low levels of active play, and/or greater than 2 hours per day of screen time by race/ethnicity and 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.
  3. † Percentage (95% Confidence Interval) calculated accounting for complex survey design
  4. § low active play defined as reported to play or exercise hard enough to sweat or breathe hard less than 7 times per week.
  5. ‡ high screen time defined as >2 hours per day. Screen time includes time spent watching television or videos, and using computers or computer-games.
  6. + Difference in prevalence by race/ethnicity within gender: Wald Chi-square, p < 0.1.
  7. ** Significant difference in prevalence by race/ethnicity within gender: Wald Chi-square, p < 0.05.
  8. *** Significant difference in prevalence by race/ethnicity within gender: Wald Chi-square, p < 0.01.
  9. Pair-wise comparisons p < 0.05; a = non-Hispanic white different from non-Hispanic black; b = non-Hispanic white different from Mexican American; c = non-Hispanic black different from Mexican American.
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BMC Public Health

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