Obesity Prevention and Control: Interventions to Reduce Screen Time

Search Strategy

Search Terms

The articles to be reviewed were obtained from systematic searches of multiple databases, reviews of bibliographic reference lists, and consultations with experts in the field. The following databases were searched for English-language studies published between 1966 and the second week of July 2007: Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library.

Screen time search: an example from MedLine

1. ("screen time" or "screen use" or "screen usage").tw.
2. television/
3. video games/
4. (vcr or dvd$).tw.
5. ((television or tv) adj (view$ or watch$)).tw.
6. ((view$ or watch$) adj (television or tv)).tw.
7. ((video game$ or videogame$) adj play$).tw.
8. (play$ adj (video game$ or videogame$)).tw.
9. or/1-8
10. 9 and health education/
11. 9 and "health education".tw.
12. 9 and exp health promotion/
13. 9 and intervention studies/
14. 9 and exp health behavior/
15. 9 and life style/
16. 9 and intervention$.mp.
17. 9 and (trial$ or study or studies).mp.
18. 9 and program evaluation/
19. 9 and pc.fs.
20. or/10-19
21. 20 and (exp overweight/ or exp obesity/ or body mass index/ or skinfold thickness/ or waist-hip ratio/ or bmi.tw. or obes$.tw. or weight$.hw,tw. or body fat.tw. or overweight.mp.)
22. 20 and (physical activity.tw. or motor activity/ or exercise$.mp. or physical fitness/ or "physical education and training"/ or exp sports/)
23. 20 and (diet$ or nutrition$ or food$).hw,tw.
24. 20 and ((reduc$ or restrict$ or decreas$ or limit$) and (television or video$ or screen)).mp. [mp=title, original title, abstract, name of substance word, subject heading word]
25. 21 or 22 or 23 or 24
26. limit 25 to (humans and english language and yr="1966 - 2007")
27. (computers/ or user-computer interface/ or attitude to computers/ or internet.mp.) and (exp child/ or adolescent/ or exp adult/)
28. 27 and health education/
29. 27 and "health education".tw.
30. 27 and exp health promotion/
31. 27 and intervention studies/
32. 27 and exp health behavior/
33. 27 and life style/
34. 27 and intervention$.mp.
35. 27 and (trial$ or study or studies).mp.
36. 27 and program evaluation/
37. 27 and pc.fs.
38. or/28-37
39. 38 and (exp overweight/ or exp obesity/ or body mass index/ or skinfold thickness/ or waist-hip ratio/ or bmi.tw. or obes$.tw. or weight$.hw,tw. or body fat.tw. or overweight.mp.)
40. 38 and (physical activity.tw. or motor activity/ or exercise$.mp. or physical fitness/ or "physical education and training"/ or exp sports/)
41. 38 and (diet$ or nutrition$ or food$).hw,tw.
42. 38 and ((reduc$ or restrict$ or decreas$ or limit$) and (computer$ or internet$)).mp.
43. 39 or 40 or 41 or 42
44. limit 43 to (humans and english language and yr="1966 - 2007")
45. 44 not 26
46. exp mass media/ or "mass media".tw. or billboard$.tw. or exp serial publications/
47. 46 and ((reduc$ or restrict$ or decreas$ or limit$) and (television or video$ or screen or computer$ or internet)).mp.
48. limit 47 to (humans and english language and yr="1966 - 2007")
49. 48 and (exp overweight/ or exp obesity/ or body mass index/ or skinfold thickness/ or waist-hip ratio/ or bmi.tw. or obes$.tw. or weight$.hw,tw. or body fat.tw. or overweight.mp.)
50. 48 and (physical activity.tw. or motor activity/ or exercise$.mp. or physical fitness/ or "physical education and training"/ or exp sports/)
51. 48 and (diet$ or nutrition$ or food$).hw,tw.
52. or/49-51
53. 52 not (26 or 44)