The 3-Year Longitudinal Impact of Sedentary Behavior on the Academic Achievement of Secondary School Students

BACKGROUNDSedentary behavior is linked to many adverse health outcomes; however, its relationship with academic achievement is less understood. We examined sedentary behavior's impact on academic achievement over 3 years in 4408 adolescents from the COMPASS study. METHODSSedentary behavior (screen-based: watching/streaming television shows/movies, video/computer games, surfing the internet; communication-based: texting/messaging/emailing, talking on the phone; and doing homework) and academic achievement (overall math and English marks) were self-reported. RESULTSHolding time fixed, moving from the lowest quartile (Q1) to Q2, Q3, or Q4 of watching/streaming television shows/movies (Q2: OR = 0.90; 95%CI: 0.84-0.97, Q3: OR = 0.85; 95%CI: 0.74-0.98, Q4: OR = 0.74; 95%CI: 0.64-0.85) or to Q2 of surfing the internet (Q2: OR = 0.87; 95%CI: 0.78-0.97) decreased the likelihood of surpassing English standards. Moving from Q1 to Q2 of communication-based sedentary behavior (OR = 0.90; 95%CI: 0.82-0.99) decreased the likelihood of surpassing math standards. Moving from Q1 to Q4 (OR = 1.31; 95%CI: 1.15-1.50) of watching/streaming television shows/movies increased the likelihood of surpassing math standards. Moving from Q1 to Q4 of doing homework (OR = 1.16; 95%CI: 1.02-1.31) increased the likelihood of surpassing English standards. CONCLUSIONSPredicting academic achievement from total sedentary behavior is challenging. Targeting specific types of sedentary behavior should be considered for improving math and English achievement.