SynthesisBMC public health2022
Screen time and health issues in Chinese school-aged children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- An umbrella review of the benefits and risks associated with youths' interactions with electronic screens.Nature human behaviour · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Screen Time, Nature, and Development: Baseline of the Randomized Controlled Study "Screen-free till 3".Developmental science · 2025Trial
- Myopia management functional lenses (MMFL): a bibliometric analysis of multidisciplinary perspective and trend insights in the context of vision health.International ophthalmology · 2026Review
- Modern Methods for Preventing the Progression of Myopia in Children.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Association of screen time and chronotype with depression and anxiety symptoms among Chinese adolescents.Annals of general psychiatry · 2026Article
- Excessive screen time in relation to albuminuria in adolescents: a finding from the China Nutrition and Health Surveillance.Pediatric nephrology (Berlin, Germany) · 2026Article
- The impact of a growth mindset on adolescents' health risk behaviors: the chain mediating role of core self-evaluation and coping style.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- What is the connection between screen time and lifestyle factors important for bone health? Findings from the Hertfordshire Intergenerational Study.Archives of osteoporosis · 2026Article
- Screen exposure in relation to cool and hot executive functions in preschoolers: parenting processes as mediators and parental growth mindset as moderator.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Distribution and associated factors of neck and shoulder pain among primary school children in Shijiazhuang city, Hebei province, China.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Screen time, physical activity, sleep, and depression risk in adolescents: an observational study based on the compositional isotemporal substitution model.Frontiers in public health · 2026Observational
- Objective Assessment of Media Screens Effect on Physical Activity in Preschool Children.IEEE access : practical innovations, open solutions · 2026Article
- Screen time and its association with psychological wellbeing and sleep quality: overview of the Fujian Adolescent Mental Wellness Study (FAMWeS).Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Association between electronic device use time and self-rated health in medical students: mediating role of sleep quality and moderating effect of psychological stress.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Nuances of balance; parental perspectives around screen use and nature exposure in middle childhood.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Impact of screen exposure during pediatric ages including multifaceted aggravating factors: a literature review.Clinical and experimental pediatrics · 2025Article
- IMI-2025 Digest.Investigative ophthalmology & visual science · 2025Article
- French Versions of 2 English Questionnaires on Problematic Digital Use Assessed by Adolescents and Their Parents: Cross-Cultural Linguistic Translation and Adaptation Study.Interactive journal of medical research · 2025Article
- Analysis of sub-health status and related factors in medical students in the Chinese Mainland from the perspective of health ecology.BMC public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundsMany literature reviews summarized relationships between screen time and child health, but they only included a few studies conducted in Chinese children and adolescents. The potential influence of screen time may vary by social context. The current systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate relationships between screen time and health issues among Chinese school-aged children and adolescents.
methodsPeer-reviewed articles written in Chinese and English were retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang, PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science from inception to June 2020. The Downs & Black checklist was applied to assess study quality. Meta analyses used random effect models and mixed effects model to calculate pooled adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Heterogeneity, sensitivity, and publication bias were assessed using Q and I
resultsIn total, we identified 252 articles reporting 268 studies with unique samples. These studies investigated relationships between screen time and health issues of adiposity, myopia, psycho-behavioral problems, poor academic performance, cardiometabolic disease risks, sleep disorder, poor physical fitness, musculoskeletal injury, sub-health, and miscellaneous issues of height and pubertal growth, injury, sick leave, and respiratory symptoms. Proportions of studies reporting positive relationships with screen time were lowest in adiposity (50.6%) and higher in myopia (59.2%) and psycho-behavioral problems (81.8%). Other health issues were examined in 10 or less studies, all of which had more than half showing positive relationships. The pooled odds ratio from 19 studies comparing health risks with the screen time cutoff of 2 hours per day was 1.40 (95% CI: 1.31 to 1.50, I
conclusionsFindings exclusively generated from Chinese school-aged children and adolescents resonate those mainly from western countries. Evidence suggests that higher levels of screen time are related with greater risks of various health issues, although the relationships appear to be weak and intertwined with other confounding factors. Future studies need to investigate health-specific dose effects and mechanisms of screen time.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.