Associations of contemporary screen time modalities with early adolescent nutrition

Objective To determine the associations between screen time across several contemporary screen modalities (e.g., television, video games, text, video chat, social media) and adherence to the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH [Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension] Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet in early adolescents. Methods We analyzed data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study of 9-12-year-old adolescents in the US. Multivariable linear regression analyses examined the relationship between self-reported screen time measures at baseline (year 0) and the one-year follow-up (year 1) and caregiver-reported nutrition assessments at year 1, providing a prospective and cross-sectional analysis. Cross-sectional marginal predicted probabilities were calculated. Results In a sample of 8,267 adolescents (49.0% female, 56.9% white) mean age 10 years, total screen time increased from 3.80 hours/day at year 0 to 4.61 hours/day at year 1. Total screen time from year 0 and year 1 was associated with lower nutrition scores at year 1. Prospective: Screen time spent on television, video games, and videos at year 0 were associated with lower nutrition scores at year 1. Cross-sectional: Screen time spent on television, video games, videos, texting, and social networking at year 1 were associated with lower MIND diet scores at year 1. Conclusion Both traditional (television) and several contemporary modalities of screen time are associated, prospectively and cross-sectionally, with lower overall diet quality, measured by the MIND diet nutrition score, in early adolescents. Future studies should further explore the effect of rising digital platforms and media on overall adolescent nutrition. What’s New In a demographically diverse, sample of 9-12-year-old early adolescents in the U.S., total screen time, television, YouTube videos, and videos games were associated with a lower MIND diet nutrition score, prospectively and cross-sectionally; texting and social networking were associated cross-sectionally.