Associations of meeting 24-h movement behavior guidelines with prescribed eyeglasses/contact lenses among children and adolescents

Background Eye health and proper vision is crucial for many aspects of life especially in developing populations such as children and adolescents. However, there is a high proportion of children and adolescents who suffer from visual impairments. In addition to eye health, the 24-h movement behaviors (24-HMB) guidelines recommends that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is a crucial aspect of health development in younger ages for an increasing number of studies demonstrate that meeting 24-HMB guidelines is associated with positive physical and mental health outcomes in children and adolescents. However, the relationship between wearing prescription eyeglasses/contact lenses and meeting 24-HMB guidelines has yet to be investigated. Thus, this study addressed this gap in the literature by using the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) dataset. Methods This cross-sectional study used data retrieved from the 2021 NSCH. The data from a total of 14,193 children and adolescents aged between 6 and 17 years was examined in this cross-sectional study. We used items of the NSCH concerning 24-HMB guidelines (i.e., physical activity, screen time, and sleep duration) and prescription of eyeglasses/contact lenses that were answered by the legal guardian of the children for analyses. Weighted descriptive statistical analyses and binary logistic regression were performed to investigate whether meeting the 24-HMB guidelines is associated with prescription eyeglasses/contact lenses and whether wearing eyeglasses/contact lenses predicts adherence to the 24-HMB among children and adolescents. Results More than half of the participants (59.53%) wore eyeglasses/contact lenses and only 8.40% of them met all three of the 24-HMB guidelines while 20.57% did not meet any of them. Most participants met one (42.01%), or two of the 24-HMB guidelines (29.02%). Compared to meeting none of the 24-HMB guidelines, meeting one (OR = 0.76, 95% CI = 0.62–0.93, p = 0.008), two (OR = 0.54, 95% CI = 0.43–0.67, p < 0.001), and all three 24-HMB guidelines (OR = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.34–0.64, p < 0.001) were associated with a lower risk of being prescribed eyeglasses/contact lenses among U.S. children and adolescents. Conclusions The findings of the current study provide evidence that the prevalence of U.S. children and adolescents aged between 6 and 17 years who use prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses is relatively high. Furthermore, meeting the 24-HMB guidelines were associated with prescribed eyeglasses/contact lenses. Future studies focusing on the effects of 24-HMB interventions on eye health among children and adolescents are needed to better inform public health actions.