An Exploratory Research on the Correlation Between Screen Time and Walking

Abstract

With the revolution of information technology greatly changing contemporary’s lifestyle, smartphone becomes a necessity to more and more people, and individuals’ screen time is increasing as people are spending more time on the virtual world. Through literature review, this paper proposes a hypothesis that there is a correlation between smartphone screen time and walking step counts, which is verified through an exploratory research: data of walking step counts and screen usage were widely collected by online and onsite questionnaires, and the analyses reveal that 1) when daily screen time ranges from 4.99 to 15.25 hours, it is negatively correlated with daily walking step counts; 2) the respondents’ average daily screen time is 6.3 hours, more of which (2.8 hours) is spent on social Apps, and their average daily walking step counts are 6,750 (takes nearly 0.8 hour); 3) daily screen time and walking step counts at weekends are less than those on weekdays; 4) people with higher education level, higher income, or younger age use screen less daily; people with higher education level, lower exercise frequency, or younger age walk less daily, so these factors are likely to affect the correlation between daily screen time and daily walking step counts. The correlation of both behaviors and the affecting factors need to be further clarified, and the impact of physical environmental elements on walking also requires more attention.

Keywords

Screen Time / Walking / Walking Step Counts / Smartphone / Physical Behaviors / Virtual World / Physical Space

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