ArticleBMC public health2021
The association between obesity and problematic smartphone use among school-age children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study in Shanghai.
Article in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 45 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of bilingual health education on obesity and dietary behaviors in Mongolian adolescents: a six-month intervention study.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Associations of smartphone, computer, and television use with insufficient sleep duration and overweight/obesity among lithuanian adolescents: a cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The Impact of Internet and Mobile Phone Usage and Unemployment on Adult Obesity: Empirical Evidence from the BRICS States.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Digital dependence and its association with weight and body image among female medical students in Pakistan: a large cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Risk level prediction for problematic internet use: A digital health perspective.Internet interventions · 2025Article
- Disentangling the Impacts of Childhood Environment on Problematic Smartphone Use From the Life History Perspective.Journal of the Korean Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry · 2025Article
- Interaction effect of mobile gaming addiction and excessive sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on overweight and obesity among schoolchildren: Evidence from a large population-based study in Guangzhou, China.Journal of behavioral addictions · 2025Article
- The Impact of Smartphone Addiction on Cyberloafing: The Moderating Role of Generation Differences.Iranian journal of public health · 2025Article
- Smartphone usage in young adults: cross-sectional associations with physical activity, sleep, social isolation, academic achievement, and anxiety.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Associations between Smartphone Usage with Upper-Body Abnormalities, Obesity, Mental Wellbeing and Physical Fitness of High-School Male Students.International journal of school health · 2025Article
- Association of communication methods and frequency with BMI among adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic: findings from A-CHILD study.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Analysis of risk factors affecting obesity in Korean adolescents: based on the 2017-2020 Korea national health and nutrition examination survey.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Recreational screen time and obesity risk in Korean children: a 3-year prospective cohort study.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Article
- Dissecting the complex sex-based associations of myopia with height and weight.Eye (London, England) · 2024Article
- The effect of Internet use on body weight in Chinese adolescents: Evidence from a nationally longitudinal survey.PloS one · 2024Article
- Automated Machine Learning Analysis of Patients With Chronic Skin Disease Using a Medical Smartphone App: Retrospective Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Smartphone addiction and its association with hypertension and quality of sleep among medical students of Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia.Saudi medical journal · 2023Article
- Is excessive smartphone use associated with weight status and self-rated health among youth? A smart platform study.BMC public health · 2023Article
- The Influence of Abdominal Adiposity and Physical Fitness on Obesity Status of Portuguese Adolescents.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Relationship between Smartphone Addiction and Sleep Satisfaction: A Cross-Sectional Study on Korean Adolescents.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe study aimed to investigate the association between content-based problematic smartphone use and obesity in school-age children and adolescents, including variations in the association by educational stage and sex.
methodsTwo-stage non-probability sampling was used to recruit 8419 participants from nineteen primary schools, five middle schools, and thirteen high schools in Shanghai in December 2017. Obesity was identified by body mass index (BMI), which was obtained from the school physical examination record, while problematic smartphone use was measured by the Revised Problematic Smartphone Use Classification Scale as the independent variable.
resultsThe rates of obesity varied with educational stages, while problematic smartphone use increased with educational stages. Male students reported higher obesity rates (37.1%vs19.4%, P < 0.001) and greater problematic smartphone use scores (25.65 ± 10.37 vs 22.88 ± 8.94, P < 0.001) than female students. Problematic smartphone use for entertainment (smartphone users addicted to entertainment games, music, videos, novels and other applications) was positively associated to obesity status for primary school [odds ratio (OR), 1.030; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.005-1.057] and high school students (OR, 1.031; 95% CI, 1.004-1.059). For female students, problematic smartphone use for entertainment was positively associated with obesity status (OR, 1.046; 95% CI, 1.018-1.075).
conclusionsProblematic smartphone use may be associated with obesity in children and adolescents. The association differed based on the educational stage and sex, and the difference possessed dimensional specificity.
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