Influence of screen time on diet quality and academic achievement: a mediation analysis

Aim Associations among screen time, dietary habits, cognition, and academic achievement with differences depending on different screen behaviors have been reported. This study aimed to analyze the associations among passive (TV viewing) and active (using other electronic devices) screen time and academic achievement and executive functions in schoolchildren and to assess whether this relationship is mediated by diet quality.Subjects and methods This was a cross-sectional study including 562 schoolchildren (M age = 9.58, 52,14% girls). Sociodemographic and anthropometric variables, academic achievement, executive functions, screen time, dietary habits, and cardiorespiratory fitness were assessed. ANCOVA models were conducted to test mean differences in academic achievement, executive functions, and diet by screen time categories. The PROCESS macro was used for mediation analyses.Results The results suggest that children who spent >3 h watching TV had lower academic achievement. Children who spent >3 h using other electronic devices had more inhibition, although differences disappeared after adjusting for confounders. Both types of screen use were associated with a lower quality of diet (p <.05).Conclusion Diet quality was a significant mediator between both screen time and academic achievement. Longer screen time leads to poorer food choices and this, in turn, affects academic achievement. Furthermore, this preliminary finding supports potential differences between passive and active screen use.Clinical trial registration MOVI-da-Fit! http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03236337. First Registered: August 1, 2017.