Objective According to the exercise hypothesis, regular exercise and physical fitness are protective against asthma. The aim of the study was to examine the influence of the sedentary lifestyle, through TVwatchingcomputer gamesplaying time, on asthma in young adolescents.

Methods In a project conducted in 8 cities of R. Macedonia, the selfreported data by 1272 adolescents aged 1216 years from Tetovo obtained through the ISAAC phase 3 written questionnaires were analysed. The daily TVwatchingcomputer gamesplaying time adjusted for confounding factors sex, body mass index, passive smoke exposure, mothers educational level, truck passage through the residential street, cat ownership was correlated to wheeze ever, current wheeze, current sleepdisturbing wheeze, current exerciseinduced wheeze and asthma ever. International cutoff points for overweight by age and sex were used. Odds ratios OR, 95 CI in binary logistic regression for statistic analysis of the data were performed.

Results TV watchingcomputer games playing more than 3hours a day significantly increased the risk of wheeze ever OR 2.34, 1.55 to 3.53, p0.000, current wheeze OR 1.76, 1.01 to 3.09, p0.048 and exerciseinduced wheeze OR 1.60, 1.01 to 2.55, p0.046. A significant association between the TVwatchingcomputer gamesplaying time and severe wheeze or everdiagnosed asthma was not found.

Conclusion The results support the exercise hypothesis of a positive association between the sedentary lifestyle and asthma symptoms.