PEDIATRICS Vol. 109 No. 6 June 2002, pp. 1028-1035
Television Viewing and Television in Bedroom Associated With Overweight Risk Among Low-Income Preschool Children

* Research Institute, Bassett Healthcare, Cooperstown, New York
Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, New York, New York
--> Context. Television (TV) viewing is associated with obesity among school-aged children, adolescents, and adults, but this relationship has not been evaluated in preschool-aged children.
Objective. To describe the TV/video viewing habits of a multiethnic, low-income preschool population of children and to determine whether TV/video viewing is related to their adiposity.
Design. Cross-sectional survey of parents/guardians with measurements of childrens height and weight.
Setting and Participants. Two thousand seven hundred sixty-one adults with children, 1 through <5 years, from 49 New York State agencies of the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children.
Outcome Measures. Cross-sectional relationships between the amount of time the child spends viewing TV/video and the presence of a TV set in the childs bedroom, with the prevalence of overweight children (body mass index [BMI] >85th percentile) after adjustment for potential confounders.
Results. Mean TV/video viewing times were higher among black children and Hispanic children than white children and increased with the childs age. In multiple logistic regression, the odds ratio of children having a BMI >85th percentile was 1.06 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0041.11) for each additional hour per day of TV/video viewed, independent of child age, child sex, parental educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. Almost 40% of children had a TV set in their bedroom; they were more likely to be overweight and spent more time (4.6 hours per week) watching TV/video than children without a TV in their bedroom. In multiple logistic regression, the odds ratio of having a BMI >85th percentile was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.011.69) among those with a TV in their bedroom versus those without a TV, after statistical adjustment for child age, child sex, child TV/video viewing hours per week, maternal BMI, maternal education, and race/ethnicity.
Conclusions. This study extends the association between TV viewing and risk of being overweight to younger, preschool-aged children. A TV in the childs bedroom is an even stronger marker of increased risk of being overweight. Because most children watch TV by age 2, educational efforts about limiting child TV/video viewing and keeping the TV out of the childs bedroom need to begin before then.
Key Words: obesity television preschool child parent behavioral
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index TV, television WIC, Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children NYS, New York State CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention OR, odds ratio CI, confidence interval
Received for publication Apr 16, 2001; Accepted Dec 3, 2001.
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