568 - Is More Screen Time Associated with Poorer Health in Children with Autism?

Friday, April 28, 2023

5:15 PM – 7:15 PM ET

Poster Number: 568
Publication Number: 568.109

Fiorella Beatriz Castillo, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, United States; Mollie Lobl, The Children's Hospital at Montefiore, NEW YORK, NY, United States; Ellen J. Silver, none, Newberg, OR, United States; Elisa Muniz, Montefiore Medical Center, New York, NY, United States; Blanche Benenson, Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Bronx, NY, United States; Ruth EK. Stein, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/ Children's Hospital at Montefiore, Larchmont, NY, United States

Presenting Author(s)

FC

Fiorella Beatriz Castillo, MD, MSPH

DBP Fellow
Rose F. Kennedy Children's Evaluation & Rehabilitation Center, Division of Developmental Medicine, The Children’s Hospital at Montefiore
Bronx, New York, United States

Background: The AAP recommends limiting screen time (ST) because excessive use is associated with obesity, poor sleep, and sedentary lifestyle. There is conflicting literature on whether this is true for children with Autism (AS).

Objective: To describe the amount of ST in children >6yrs with and without AS and the relationship of ST amount to body mass index (BMI), daily physical activity (PA), and sleep duration in children with AS.

Design/Methods:

Secondary analysis of the 2020 National Survey of Children’s Health data collected from 7/20–1/21 on 42,777 children. 1,033 were reported by parents to have AS and were >6yrs. Comparison group included those >6yrs without AS, developmental, learning, or intellectual disability, speech/language impairment, ADHD. Parents reported on weight and height (provided in data set per CDC BMI classifications), daily PA, and sleep duration. Parents were asked about ST use on weekdays, including time in front of a TV, computer, cellphone, or other electronic device watching programs, playing games, accessing the internet, or using social media exclusive of time spent doing schoolwork. The CDC recommends that children >6yrs get 60+ min of daily PA, that children 6-12yrs get 9-12hrs sleep/day, adolescents 13-18yrs get 8-10hrs sleep/day, and considers children with BMI >85%ile overweight or obese. We examined bivariate relationships between ST >2hr/day and whether children met CDC recommendations for PA, sleep, and BMI < 85%ile. Data were weighted and adjusted for complex sampling.

Results: 68.6% of children with AS had ST >2hr versus 56.5% of those without AS/developmental comorbidities (p=.001). Among those with AS, 13-17yo were more likely to have >2hr ST than were 6-12yo. Children watching < 2hr ST were significantly more likely to meet the CDC daily PA minimum than were those who watched >2hr ST daily. However, ST was not significantly associated with BMI or meeting CDC sleep minimum for age.

Conclusion(s): Children >6yrs with AS are significantly more likely to have >2hr ST than those without AS/developmental comorbidities. Adolescents with AS were more likely than those aged 6-12yr to use >2hrs/day of ST. Those with AS and >2hr ST were less likely to meet minimum daily PA recommendations. ST was not associated with BMI or sleep duration. It is unclear how the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected these results.