Exploring mediation roles of child screen-viewing between parental factors and child overweight in Taiwan

Children’s screen-viewing behavior is influenced by parents’ own screen-viewing hours and the parental rules set for screen-viewing time. However, whether childhood obesity is associated with these three factors has not been widely investigated in Chinese populations. We examined the relationships between parental rules, parental screen-viewing, child screen-viewing and child overweight. Questionnaires were distributed to 1300 parents who had children studying in two elementary schools in an eastern Taiwanese City (Yi-Lan). We collected the data (the final response rate was 77.7%) on children’s health states, the length of screen-viewing time, and whether parental rules of screen-viewing time have been set (n = 1005). Models using structural equation modeling, with controlling of age, gender, and physical activity of the participants, were carried out, to examine the mediated effect of child screen-viewing. The results of model testing showed that child screen-viewing could be a mediator in the associations between parental rule and child overweight (parental rule: coefficient = −0.18, p < 0.001); and between parent screen-viewing and child overweight (parent screen-viewing: coefficient = 0.072, p < 0.001). These findings suggested that parental factors (rules and little screen viewing time) effectively decreased the level of children’s screen-viewing time, and the child screen-viewing time could mediate the association between parental factors and child overweight in the Chinese population.