Screen time and sleep duration among Brazilian Quilombola schoolchildren

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between exposure to screen time and sleep duration during weekdays and weekends among schoolchildren. The sample comprises 1,004 children (7–9 years old) and adolescents (10–15 years old) from public schools in rural Quilombola communities (46.4% girls, 53.6% boys; mean age 9.4 ± SD 1.7 years). Parents provided data on sleep duration, screen time (unexposed, ≤ 2 hours/day, > 2 hours/day), and socioeconomic and demographic factors. Sleep duration was defined by the difference (in minutes) between sleep time and wake-up time. Data analysis included linear regression models stratified by age range and gender and adjusted by socioeconomic and demographic factors. The results showed that 19.3% (weekdays) and 11.7% (weekends) of participants were exposed to no screen time at all. During weekdays, 51.4% of participants were exposed to screen time for ≤ 2 hours/day and 29.3% for more than 2 hours/day; during weekends, 34.6% and 53.7% were exposed to screen time ≤ 2 hours/day and > 2 hours/day, respectively. Exposure to screen time for more than 2 hours per day during weekdays was associated with a decrease in sleep duration of 24 minutes (β = -24.2, CI95% = -42.16 to -6.23). Only sleep duration among children was associated with exposure to screen time for more than 2 hours/day (weekdays: β=-41.5, CI95%=-65.81; -17.16; weekends: β=-30.5, CI95%=-57.80 to -3.26). Both girls (β=-32.3, CI95%=-60.59 to -3.95) and boys (β=-24.1; CI95%=-46.60 to -1.60) experienced decreases in sleep duration associated with more than 2 hours of screen time, but this effect was only observed during weekdays. In conclusion, exposure to screen time is associated with reduced sleep duration among Quilombola schoolchildren during weekdays, with a significant decrease noted among children and girls on both weekdays and weekends.