Association between abdominal obesity, screen time and sleep in adolescents

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between abdominal obesity, food intake, sleep deprivation, and screen time in adolescents. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with 432 adolescents aged 14–19 years, from public and private schools. Anthropometric and body composition measures included body weight, waist circumference, body mass index for age, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and body fat percentage. Abdominal obesity was defined by age and sex specific cut-off points for waist circumference. Food intake, screen time, sexual maturation, and sleep duration were evaluated by self-administered questionnaires. RESULTS: The prevalence of excess body weight and abdominal obesity was 16.7% and 27.5%, respectively. Students in the adult phase (post-puberty), with inadequate waist-to-height ratio, high body fat percentage, and screen time ≥ 3 h/day were, respectively, 2.5 (95% CI 1.40–4.46), 7.44 (95% CI 1.08–51.46), 2.79 (95% CI 1.04–7.50), and 1.43 (95% CI 1.24–3.89) more likely to have abdominal obesity. Low intake of unprocessed or minimally processed foods was associated with inadequate sleep duration, while high intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with high screen time. CONCLUSIONS: Abdominal obesity was associated with the adult phase, short sleep duration and high screen time. The degree of food processing was associated with screen time and sleep duration. Assessing the risk factors of abdominal obesity may be a useful strategy for preventing cardiovascular disease in adolescents.