1073 Objective Measure of Physical Activity and Time Spent in Watching Tv in Ralation to Weight Status in Primary School Children

Objectives: To investigate the association of physical activity (PA) and time spent in watching TV with weight status in school children living in Tehran. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among school children aged 6-9 years. A representative sample of 30 boys and 42 girls participated in current study. PA was measured using Actigraph accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Height and weight were directly measured using standardized equipment and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) 2000 Growth Charts was used to calculate BMI percentiles. Overweight and obesity were defined according to the CDC cut-off values of 85th and 95th BMI percentile, respectively. Results: No significant difference (p> 0.05) was found between boys and girls for body weight, BMI percentiles, 7 days and weekday activity counts, and time watching TV. Girls were older (F= 24.32, P< 0.001), taller (F= 7.34, P= 0.008) and had lower weekend activity counts (F= 4.70, P= 0.02) compared to boys. There was no significant correlation (p> 0.05) between time spent watching TV and PA. No significant difference (p> 0.05) was found between normal weight children compared to overweight and obese children for time in watching TV or PA. Conclusions: Although the association between BMI with time spent watching television and a low PA has been shown in several studies, in the present study we were unable to show such an association. However, further researches are needed to address the true relationship between BMI with time spent watching television and PA activity in children.