Published online February 1, 2007
PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 2 February 2007, pp. e314-e319 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2974)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Taveras, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Gillman, M. W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Taveras, E. M.
Right arrow Articles by Gillman, M. W.
Related Collections
Right arrow Office Practice

ARTICLE

Longitudinal Relationship Between Television Viewing and Leisure-Time Physical Activity During Adolescence

Elsie M. Taveras, MD, MPHa, Alison E. Field, ScDb,c, Catherine S. Berkey, ScDb, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, MPHa, A. Lindsay Frazier, MD, MScb,d, Graham A. Colditz, MD, DrPHb,e and Matthew W. Gillman, MD, SMa,f

a Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Boston, Massachusetts
b Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
c Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts
d Department of Pediatric Oncology, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
e Departments of Epidemiology
f Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts

OBJECTIVE. The goal was to examine the longitudinal associations of changes in television viewing and other sources of sedentary behavior with changes in leisure-time moderate/vigorous physical activity in adolescence.

METHODS. We studied a cohort of 6369 girls and 4487 boys who were 10 to 15 years of age in 1997. During each of 4 years of follow-up assessments, participants self-reported their weekly hours of television viewing. By using a seasonal questionnaire, we also obtained detailed information on physical activities over the previous year, from which we calculated total leisure-time moderate/vigorous physical activity. We performed linear regression analyses to assess the longitudinal associations between 1-year changes in television viewing and 1-year changes in leisure-time moderate/vigorous physical activity during the same year, using data from 1997 through 2001.

RESULTS. One-year changes (mean ± SD) were –0.13 ± 7.2 hours/week for leisure-time moderate/vigorous physical activity, –0.55 ± 7.0 hours/week for television viewing, and –1.02 ± 11.0 hours/week for total sedentary behaviors. In longitudinal models adjusted for age, age2, gender, race/ethnicity, Tanner stage, menarche (in girls), baseline physical activity, and baseline television viewing, we found no substantive relationship between year-to-year changes in television viewing and changes in leisure-time moderate/vigorous physical activity (0.03 hours/week, for each 1-hour/week change in television viewing). There were no material associations in age or gender subgroups.

CONCLUSIONS. In this longitudinal study, changes in television viewing were not associated with changes in leisure-time moderate/vigorous physical activity. Our findings suggest that television viewing and leisure-time physical activity are separate constructs, not functional opposites.

Key Words: physical activity • television viewing • sedentary behavior • prospective study

Abbreviations: CI—confidence interval

Accepted Aug 22, 2006.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Pediatr PsycholHome page
F. W. Danner
A National Longitudinal Study of the Association Between Hours of TV Viewing and the Trajectory of BMI Growth Among US Children
J. Pediatr. Psychol., April 4, 2008; (2008) jsn034v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINEHome page
S. S. Gidding
Special Article: Physical Activity, Physical Fitness, and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Childhood
American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, December 1, 2007; 1(6): 499 - 505.
[Abstract] [PDF]