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PubMed2004

Reliability and validity of a brief questionnaire to assess television viewing and computer use by middle school children.

Sedentary behaviors, like television viewing, are positively associated with overweight among young people. To monitor national health objectives for sedentary behaviors in young adolescents, this project developed and assessed the reliability and validity of a brief questionnaire to measure weekly television viewing, usual television viewing, and computer use by middle school children. Reliability and validity of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) question on weekday television viewing also were examined. A brief, five-item television and computer use questionnaire was completed twice by 245 middle school children with one week apart. To concurrently assess validity, students also completed television and computer use logs for seven days. Among all students, Spearman correlations for test-retest reliability for television viewing and computer use ranged from 0.55 to 0.68. Spearman correlations between the first questionnaire and the seven-day log produced the following results: YRBS question for weekday television viewing (0.46), weekend television viewing (0.37), average television viewing over the week (0.47), and computer use (0.39). Methods comparison analysis showed a mean difference (hours/week) between answers to questionnaire items and the log of -0.04 (1.70 standard deviation [SD]) hours for weekday television, -0.21 (2.54 SD) for weekend television, -0.09 (1.75 SD) for average television over the week, and 0.68 (1.26 SD) for computer use. The YRBS weekday television viewing question, and the newly developed questions to assess weekend television viewing, average television viewing, and computer use, produced adequate reliability and validity for surveillance of middle school students.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The effects of television food advertisement on children's food purchasing requests.

BACKGROUND: Children's eating habits and their food consumption have direct relations with obesity, diabetes, cancers, hypertension and coronary heart disease. Television advertisements directly affect children's eating habits and their food consumption. This study was conducted in order to examine television advertisements and children's food consumption while watching television and their desire to purchase goods that they see on television advertisements. METHODS: In the first stage of the study, content analysis of the television advertisements was conducted. In the second stage of the study, a questionnaire (check list) was developed in order to examine children's food consumption while watching television and their purchasing requests while shopping in the supermarket. It was given to 347 mothers who have children aged between 3 and 8 years. RESULTS: When the results of the study were examined it was found that the time devoted to children's programs was approximately 121 min and the advertisements during this period were approximately 35 min. A total of 344 of the 775 television advertisements shown were related to food. It was also found that most of the food advertisements were about candy/chocolate, chips, milk and milk products such as cheese, yoghurt, and breakfast cereals. The results also revealed that 89.6% of the children either drank or ate something while watching television and the food they consumed most while watching television were fruits, soft drinks, popcorn/nuts, cake, chips and candy/chocolate. The results also revealed that 40.3% of the children asked their parents to purchase the goods that they saw on the television advertisements and that 8.9% of them argued with their parents and/or cried in order for their parents to buy that particular product. It was found that the children tended to request more sweetened products such as candy, ice-cream, biscuit, cake or soft drinks. CONCLUSION: More than half of the food presented in television advertisements were rich in fat and sugar. Children ask their parents to buy the goods they see on television advertisements both while watching television and while shopping. Television advertisements especially affect young children's unhealthy food consumption.

Advertising↗
PubMed1999

Television-viewing habits and sleep disturbance in school children.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between specific television-viewing habits and both sleep habits and sleep disturbances in school children. METHODS: The parents of 495 children in grades kindergarten through fourth grade in three public elementary schools completed two retrospective survey questionnaires, one assessing their children's sleep behaviors and the other examining television-viewing habits of both the child and the family. Sleep domains assessed included bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, sleep duration, anxiety around sleep, parasomnias, night wakings, and daytime sleepiness. Teachers from all three schools also completed daytime sleepiness questionnaires (N = 402) for the sample. RESULTS: Most of the television-viewing practices examined in this study were associated with at least one type of sleep disturbance. Despite overall close monitoring of television-viewing habits, one quarter of the parents reported the presence of a television set in the child's bedroom. The television-viewing habits associated most significantly with sleep disturbance were increased daily television viewing amounts and increased television viewing at bedtime, especially in the context of having a television set in the child's bedroom. The sleep domains that appeared to be affected most consistently by television were bedtime resistance, sleep onset delay, and anxiety around sleep, followed by shortened sleep duration. The parent's threshold for defining "problem sleep behavior" in their child was also important in determining the significance of the association between sleep disturbance and television-viewing habits. CONCLUSION: Health care practitioners should be aware of the potential negative impact of television viewing at bedtime. Parents should be questioned about their children's television-viewing habits as part of general screening for sleep disturbances and as part of anticipatory guidance in regards to healthy sleep habits in children. In particular, the presence of a television set in the child's bedroom may be a relatively underrecognized, but important, contributor to sleep problems in school children.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2001

Relationships between use of television during meals and children's food consumption patterns.

OBJECTIVE: We examined relationships between the presence of television during meals and children's food consumption patterns to test whether children's overall food consumption patterns, including foods not normally advertised, vary systematically with the extent to which television is part of normal mealtime routines. METHODS: Ninety-one parent-child pairs from suburbs adjacent to Washington, DC, recruited via advertisements and word of mouth, participated. Children were in the fourth, fifth, or sixth grades. Socioeconomic data and information on television use were collected during survey interviews. Three nonconsecutive 24-hour dietary recalls, conducted with each child, were used to construct nutrient and food intake outcome variables. Independent sample t tests were used to compare mean food and nutrient intakes of children from families in which the television was usually on during 2 or more meals (n = 41) to those of children from families in which the television was either never on or only on during one meal (n = 50). Multiple linear regression models, controlling for socioeconomic factors and other covariates, were used to test strength of associations between television and children's consumption of food groups and nutrients. RESULTS: Children from families with high television use derived, on average, 6% more of their total daily energy intake from meats; 5% more from pizza, salty snacks, and soda; and nearly 5% less of their energy intake from fruits, vegetables, and juices than did children from families with low television use. Associations between television and children's consumption of food groups remained statistically significant in multiple linear regression models that controlled for socioeconomic factors and other covariates. Children from high television families derived less of their total energy from carbohydrate and consumed twice as much caffeine as children from low television families. There continued to be a significant association between television and children's consumption of caffeine when these relationships were tested in multiple linear regression models. CONCLUSION: The dietary patterns of children from families in which television viewing is a normal part of meal routines may include fewer fruits and vegetables and more pizzas, snack foods, and sodas than the dietary patterns of children from families in which television viewing and eating are separate activities.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Family and home correlates of television viewing in 12-13 year old adolescents: the Nepean Study.

BACKGROUND: Few young people meet television viewing guidelines. PURPOSE: To determine the association between factors in the family and home environment and watching television, including videos and DVDs, in early adolescence. METHODS: Cross-sectional, self-report survey of 343 adolescents aged 12-13 years (173 girls), and their parents (338 mothers, 293 fathers). Main measures were factors in the family and home environment potentially associated with adolescents spending >or= 2 hours per day in front of the television. Factors examined included family structure, opportunities to watch television/video/DVDs, perceptions of rules and regulations on television viewing, and television viewing practices. RESULTS: Two-thirds of adolescents watched >or= 2 hours television per day. Factors in the family and home environment associated with adolescents watching television >or= 2 hours per day include adolescents who have siblings (Adjusted Odds Ratio [95%CI] AOR = 3.0 [1.2, 7.8]); access to pay television (AOR = 2.0 [1.1, 3.7]); ate snacks while watching television (AOR = 3.1 [1.8, 5.4]); co-viewed television with parents (AOR = 2.3 [1.3, 4.2]); and had mothers who watched >or= 2 hours television per day (AOR = 2.4 [1.3, 4.6]). CONCLUSION: There are factors in the family and home environment that influence the volume of television viewed by 12-13 year olds. Television plays a central role in the family environment, potentially providing a means of recreation among families of young adolescents for little cost. Interventions which target family television viewing practices and those of parents, in particular, are more likely to be effective than interventions which directly target adolescent viewing times.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Relationship between parental estimate and an objective measure of child television watching.

Many young children have televisions in their bedrooms, which may influence the relationship between parental estimate and objective measures of child television usage/week. Parental estimates of child television time of eighty 4-7 year old children (6.0 +/- 1.2 years) at the 75th BMI percentile or greater (90.8 +/- 6.8 BMI percentile) were compared to an objective measure of television time obtained from TV Allowance devices attached to every television in the home over a three week period. Results showed that parents overestimate their child's television time compared to an objective measure when no television is present in the bedroom by 4 hours/week (25.4 +/- 11.5 vs. 21.4 +/- 9.1) in comparison to underestimating television time by over 3 hours/week (26.5 +/- 17.2 vs. 29.8 +/- 14.4) when the child has a television in their bedroom (p = 0.02). Children with a television in their bedroom spend more objectively measured hours in television time than children without a television in their bedroom (29.8 +/- 14.2 versus 21.4 +/- 9.1, p = 0.003). Research on child television watching should take into account television watching in bedrooms, since it may not be adequately assessed by parental estimates.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

Disentangling the relation between television viewing and cognitive processes in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and comparison children.

OBJECTIVES: To develop causal hypotheses regarding the effects of television viewing on cognitive processes in children and to examine the proposition that deleterious effects of television may be stronger among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. DESIGN: Longitudinal study involving 2 phases occurring 18 months apart. SETTING: University research facilities in Lexington. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-nine children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and 106 comparison children. The children's mean age was 7.18 years at phase 1 and 8.74 years at phase 2. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Laboratory measures of visual attention to television, cognitive engagement to televised stories, factual recall of televised stories, and causal recall of televised stories. Parental reports of a child's weekly television viewing. RESULTS: Among comparison children, phase 1 television viewing negatively predicted phase 2 visual attention and phase 2 cognitive engagement (after accounting for phase 1 levels of the outcome variables and any relevant demographic variables). Also among comparison children, phase 1 attention negatively predicted phase 2 television viewing, even after accounting for phase 1 levels of television viewing and relevant demographic variables. These patterns were not observed among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to recent arguments, television viewing was associated with cognitive abilities in comparison children but not children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a finding that suggests more careful examinations of the relation between television viewing and children's cognitive abilities are in order. Future studies should consider the possibility that any effects of television may be limited to certain developmental periods.

Attention↗
PubMed2006

Social interactions in adolescent television viewing.

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether social interactions influence the television viewing choices of adolescents in grades 7 through 12. DESIGN: Data from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey were used to examine the association between individual-level and school-level television choices. An instrumental variables approach was used to solve the simultaneity problem found in models that examine the association between individual and aggregate choices. SETTING: In-home interviews in the United States collected in 1996. PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 4532 students in grades 7 through 12 in 132 US public and private schools who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). MAIN EXPOSURE: The reported television viewing choices of an individual's schoolmates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The number of hours of television individuals reported viewing in a week. RESULTS: The number of hours of television that adolescents report viewing per week was associated with their peers' reported hours of television viewing. Adjusted for other covariates, a 1-hour increase in average school-level television viewing was associated with an increase in almost half an hour of television viewing at the individual level. CONCLUSIONS: Evidence suggests that social interactions within schools influence the hours of television that adolescents report viewing. This finding is important for both future attempts at modeling the determinants of adolescent television viewing and suggestions for future policy interventions. The presence of social interactions implies that interventions that affect the social norms of television viewing within schools could also change individual television viewing. In reducing the number of hours of television watched, these interventions could also positively affect adolescent obesity, emotional problems, and academic achievement.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Children's violent television viewing: are parents monitoring?

OBJECTIVE: Violent media exposure has been associated with aggressive behavior, and it has been suggested that child health professionals counsel families on limiting exposure. Effective violence prevention counseling requires an understanding of norms regarding parental attitudes, practices, and influencing factors. Both theories of reasoned action and planned behavior emphasize that subjective norms and attitudes affect people's perceptions and intended behavior. Few data exist on violent television viewing and monitoring from a cross-section of families. By understanding the spectrum of parental attitudes, community-sensitive interventions for violence prevention can be developed. The objective of this study was to assess attitudes about and monitoring of violent television viewing from the perspective of parents. METHODS: An anonymous self-report assisted survey was administered to a convenience sample of parents/guardians who visited child health providers at 3 sites: an urban children's hospital clinic, an urban managed care clinic, and a suburban private practice. The parent questionnaire included questions on child-rearing attitudes and practices and sociodemographic information. RESULTS: A total of 1004 adults who accompanied children for health visits were recruited for the study; 922 surveys were completed (participation rate: 92%). A total of 830 (90%) respondents were parents and had complete child data. Of the 830 respondents, 677 had questions on television viewing included in the survey and were the focus of this analysis. Seventy-five percent of families reported that their youngest child watched television. Of these, 53% reported always limiting violent television viewing, although 73% believed that their children viewed television violence at least 1 time a week. Among television viewers, 81% reported usually or always limiting viewing of sexual content on television and 45% reported usually or always watching television with their youngest child. Among children who watched television, parents reported that they spent an average of 2.6 hours per day watching television. Limitation of television violence was associated with female parents and younger children. CONCLUSIONS: There was variability in attitudes and practices regarding television violence viewing and monitoring among parents. Attitudes and practices varied on the basis of the age of the child and the gender of the parent.

Attitude↗
PubMed1991

Children, adolescents, and television.

As we have indicated, children's television has either a documented or probable effect on a variety of health-related behaviors in children and adolescents in the United States. Studies of cognitive development indicate that television provides a stimulus for learning and that children learn from television. The adverse effects of television appear related to both the time spent watching television and the content of the programs that are viewed. The reviewed observations suggest that a variety of initiatives are warranted to alter the time children spend watching television, the content of programs, and the types of programs for children and adolescents that are produced and broadcast. These initiatives require the development of effective techniques and materials for counseling parents, as well as continued political and legislative activities at the local and national level. We must promote the conviction that time spent in activities other than television viewing will provide our children with the values necessary to understand and interact with an increasingly complex world. Effective governmental action on behalf of children to change television will require a reaffirmation and enforcement of the Public Interest Standard. For half a century, the broadcast media have been licensed to use the airwaves in the public interest. The diversity and magnitude of the adverse effects of television on the health of children strongly suggest that the use of television has not been in the public interest. Although cable television offers multiple alternatives, less than 60% of American households receive cable. Broadcast television still represents the only alternative for 40% of American children. Substantial regulatory change by the current administration is unlikely. Therefore, legislative activity to mandate broadcast practices responsive to the needs of children appears the most appropriate national approach.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Children's food consumption during television viewing.

BACKGROUND: Television viewing is associated with childhood obesity. Eating during viewing and eating highly advertised foods are 2 of the hypothesized mechanisms through which television is thought to affect children's weight. OBJECTIVES: Our objectives were to describe the amounts and types of foods that children consume while watching television, compare those types with the types consumed at other times of the day, and examine the associations between children's body mass index (BMI) and the amounts and types of foods consumed during television viewing. DESIGN: Data were collected from 2 samples. The first sample consisted of ethnically diverse third-grade children, and the second consisted predominantly of Latino fifth-grade children. Three nonconsecutive 24-h dietary recalls were collected from each child. For each eating episode reported, children were asked whether they had been watching television. Height and weight were measured by using standard methods and were used to calculate BMI. RESULTS: On weekdays and weekend days, 17-18% and approximately 26% of total daily energy, respectively, were consumed during television viewing in the 2 samples. Although the fat content of the foods consumed during television viewing did not differ significantly from that of the foods consumed with the television off, less soda, fast food, fruit, and vegetables were consumed with the television on. The amount of food consumed during television viewing was not associated with children's BMI, but in the third-grade sample, the fat content of foods consumed during television viewing was associated with BMI. CONCLUSIONS: A significant proportion of children's daily energy intake is consumed during television viewing, and the consumption of high-fat foods on weekends may be associated with BMI in younger children.

Body Mass Index↗
PubMed2006

Reducing children's television-viewing time: a qualitative study of parents and their children.

OBJECTIVES: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children over age 2 years spend < or = 2 hours per day with screen media, because excessive viewing has been linked to a plethora of physical, academic, and behavioral problems. The primary goal of this study was to qualitatively explore how a recommendation to limit television viewing might be received and responded to by a diverse sample of parents and their school-age children. METHODS: The study collected background data about media use, gathered a household media inventory, and conducted in-depth individual and small group interviews with 180 parents and children ages 6 to 13 years old. RESULTS: Most of the children reported spending approximately 3 hours per day watching television. The average home in this sample had 4 television sets; nearly two thirds had a television in the child's bedroom, and nearly half had a television set in the kitchen or dining room. Although virtually all of the parents reported having guidelines for children's television viewing, few had rules restricting the time children spend watching television. Data from this exploratory study suggest several potential barriers to implementing a 2-hour limit, including: parents' need to use television as a safe and affordable distraction, parents' own heavy television viewing patterns, the role that television plays in the family's day-to-day routine, and a belief that children should spend their weekend leisure time as they wish. Interviews revealed that for many of these families there is a lack of concern that television viewing is a problem for their child, and there remains confusion about the boundaries of the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. CONCLUSIONS: Parents in this study expressed interest in taking steps toward reducing children's television time but also uncertainty about how to go about doing so. Results suggest possible strategies to reduce the amount of time children spend in front of the screen.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

[Television watching habits in children in Cantabria].

OBJECTIVE: To determine television viewing habits in Cantabrian children and the influence of these habits on their health and development. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A transversal survey was carried out in the parents of 796 children aged 2-13 years old with the help of 47 primary care pediatricians. The chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests as well as multiple regression analysis were used for the statistical analysis. RESULTS: Children aged 2-5 years old watched television for 9 hours/week, those aged 6-9 years watched 12.5 hours/ week and those aged 10-13 years watched 14.6 hours/week. Nineteen percent of the families had three or more televisions in their homes. The presence of a television, computer or video games in the child's room increased with age and was 15%, 9% and 10%, respectively. Girls aged 10-13 years were more likely to have computers in their rooms (20% versus 9% of boys of the same age),while boys aged 10-13 were more likely to have video games than girls (22% versus 12%, respectively). Twenty-seven percent of the children watched television alone, 29% watched it while having breakfast and 36% while having lunch or dinner. Fifty-eight percent of the children never ate sweets while watching television and only 1% habitually did so. Obese children and those with a chronic illness watched television more (4.5 and 3 hours/week, respectively) than healthy children. Children with lower school performance watched more television (2.85 hours/week) p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Pediatricians should carry out health education on the number of hours children should spend in front of the television, advising a limit of less than 2 hours/day (the ideal time would be less than 1 hour/day). Parents should watch television with their children, discuss the programs with them and teach them to be critical. The presence of television sets in children's rooms should be avoided and television should not be used as a nanny.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

[Television watching and some eating habits of 6-14-year-old children in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; a cross-sectional study].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the time spent by children between the ages of 6-14 years watching television during a weekday and to examine associated factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire study. METHOD: Data were collected during a vaccination campaign against meningococci C in Amsterdam in September 2002. From a sample of 2910 parents of 6-14-year-old children 1775 agreed to participate in the study. Socio-demographic characteristics and data on television viewing the previous day, the presence of a television in the child's bedroom and on eating habits were collected by short interviews. RESULTS: In total 1587 children were included in the analyses, 805 boys and 782 girls. In total 40.1% of the boys and 36.5% of the girls had watched television for > or = 2 h during the previous day. Among the children < or = 10 years 28.7% had a television in their bedroom, among children > 10 years this was 45.7%. Age (> 10 years), ethnicity (notably Surinam origin) and having a television in the bedroom was related to spending more time watching television. Having parents with a high socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with less television viewing than having parents with a lower SES. Children who had not eaten fresh fruit or who had visited a snackbar the previous day had been watching television for > or = 2 h more often than children who had eaten fresh fruit (p < 0.001) or who had not visited a snackbar (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Children spent a lot of time watching television. In view of the relation between television viewing and overweight this is an alarming development. Possibilities for the prevention of overweight by reducing television viewing must be investigated.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Television viewing and risk of sexual initiation by young adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if television viewing is associated with the risk of initiating sexual intercourse in young adolescents. DESIGN: Secondary analysis of data obtained from 1994 through 1996. SETTING: The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. PARTICIPANTS: The 4808 students younger than 16 years who had not initiated intercourse before baseline interview. EXPOSURES: Primary exposure was self-reported daily television watching, categorized as low (< 2 hours) or high (> or =2 hours) use. Secondary exposure was parental regulation of television programming watched. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Odds ratio for initiating intercourse by 1-year follow-up, adjusted for potential confounders. RESULTS: At baseline, 2414 (48.8%) subjects watched television 2 or more hours per day. By 1-year follow-up, 791 (15.6%) subjects had initiated intercourse. Sexual initiation was associated with high television use (adjusted odds ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.79) and lack of parental regulation of television programming (adjusted odds ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.80). Most subjects (73.8%) reported strong parental disapproval of sex; their overall rate of initiation was 12.5%, and their risk was independently associated with high television use (adjusted odds ratio, 1.72; 95% confidence interval, 1.24-2.40) and lack of parental regulation of television programming (adjusted odds ratio, 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.01-1.81). Among adolescents who did not report strong parental disapproval, the rate of sexual initiation was higher (24.1%) but unrelated to television use. CONCLUSION: Among young adolescents who reported strong parental disapproval of sex, watching television 2 or more hours per day and lack of parental regulation of television programming were each associated with increased risk of initiating sexual intercourse within a year.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

African-American girls' dietary intake while watching television.

OBJECTIVE: Television viewing has been associated with childhood obesity, although the mechanisms that link television viewing to higher BMI have not been established. Therefore, our objectives, in this report, were to describe the amount and types of foods that African-American girls consume while watching television and to examine the associations between African-American girls' BMI and the food they consume while watching television. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Data were collected from 210 8- to 10-year-old African-American girls at four field centers by trained and certified nutritionists. Two nonconsecutive 24-hour dietary recalls were collected from each girl. For each eating episode reported, the girls were asked if they had been watching television while eating. Height and weight were collected using standard methods and used to calculate BMI. RESULTS: The data were analyzed separately by field center. The proportion of average daily energy intake that the girls consumed while watching television ranged from 26.9% to 35.0%. At all field centers, 40% to 50% of evening meals were consumed while watching television. None of the Spearman correlations between girls' BMI and the amount and type of foods consumed while watching television or at other times during the day were statistically significant (p > 0.05). DISCUSSION: This research revealed that a significant proportion of African-American girls' daily energy intake is consumed while watching television. Interventions that target reductions in food consumption while watching television or reducing television viewing may be effective strategies to decrease children's energy intakes. These results support a need for research to test the efficacy of these approaches.

Black or African American↗
PubMed2006

Television viewing practices and obesity among women veterans.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is epidemic in the U.S. and has been associated with television viewing. OBJECTIVE: To describe the association between obesity and television viewing practices among women veterans. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional, mailed survey completed by 1,555 female veterans enrolled at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System in 2000. MEASUREMENTS AND METHODS: We used bivariate and multivariate analyses to assess the association of obesity (body mass index >30 kg/m2 based on self-reported height and weight) with self-reported number of hours of television or videos viewed per day, and frequency of eating meals or snacking while watching television, controlling for other covariates. RESULTS: Watching television >2 hours per typical day on week days and/or weekends was associated with obesity (P<.001), as was eating or snacking while watching television (P=.003). In multivariate logistic regression analyses, watching television >2 hours per day and eating or snacking while watching television were each associated with obesity (odds ratio [OR] 1.4, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1 to 1.8; and OR 1.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 1.7, respectively), after adjusting for demographic variables, smoking, physical activity, and depression. Results were similar when posttraumatic stress disorder was included in the model instead of depression. Women who both watched >2 hours of television per day and ate or snacked while viewing were almost twice as likely to be obese (OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.4 to 2.6). CONCLUSION: Watching television over 2 hours per day and eating while watching television were each associated with obesity among female VA patients and may be modifiable risk factors for obesity.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Television commercial violence during nonviolent programming: the 1998 major league baseball playoffs.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the frequency of violent commercials during the major league baseball playoffs in 1998 and to compare it with the 1996 playoffs. DESIGN AND SETTING: All 4 World Series games televised on the Fox Television Network (Fox), all 6 National League Championship Series (NLCS) televised by Fox, and 5 of 6 American League Championship Series (ALCS) playoff games televised by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) were videotaped in October 1998. The results were compared with a similar study that analyzed the 1996 playoffs. RESULTS: Forty-four commercials (11.0 per game) that included violent interactions were noted during the World Series, 53 violent commercials (8.8 per game) during the NLCS, and 40 (8.0 per game) during the ALCS for a total of 137. Of these 137 violent commercials, 78 contained at least 1 violent act, 126 contained at least 1 violent threat, and 12 contained evidence of at least 1 violent consequence. One hundred five of the 137 violent commercials (76.6%) were television promotions and 23 (16.8%) were for big-screen movie promotions. Twenty-three of 35 big-screen movie promotions (65.7%) were violent. Ten of the 137 violent commercials (7.3%) contained obvious blood, of which 9 were televised by NBC. There were, however, an additional 20 commercials televised by Fox that contained visible blood if the videotape was slowed or paused. Sixty-three of the 137 violent commercials (46.0%) used fire and explosions, of which 53 were televised by Fox and 10 by NBC. Guns were involved in 86 of 137 violent commercials (62.8%), with Fox accounting for 64 (6.4 per game) and NBC accounting for 22 (4.4 per game). Knives were used in 1 violent commercial on both Fox and NBC. Comparisons that can be made to 1996 include the following: 1) violent commercials during the World Series (both televised by Fox) increased from 10.1 to 11.0 per game; and 2) violent commercials during the ALCS (both televised by NBC) increased from 6.0 to 8.0 per game. CONCLUSION: Commercials during the 1998 major league playoffs were similar in violent content, compared with 1996. The violent commercials continue to consist primarily of promotions for television programs and big-screen movies. It continues to be counterintuitive to find such commercials in family-oriented programming and makes it difficult for parents to avoid exposing their children to this form of violence.

Advertising↗