Role of television in childhood obesity prevention

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To assess the role of television as tool for childhood obesity prevention. METHOD: Review of the available literature about the relationship between television and childhood obesity, eating habits and body shape perception. RESULTS:The reviewed studies showed the following: television watching replaces more vigorous activities; there is a positive correlation between time spent watching television and being overweight or obese on populations of different age; obesity prevalence has increased as well as the number of hours that TV networks dedicate to children; during the last 30 y, the rate of children watching television for more than 4 h per day seems to have increased; children are exposed to a large number of important unhealthy stimulations in terms of food intake when watching television; over the last few years, the number of television food commercials targeting children have increased especially when it comes to junk food in all of its forms; the present use of food in movies, shows and cartoons may lead to a misconception of the notion of healthy nutrition and stimulate an excessive intake of poor nutritional food; and obese subjects shown in television programmes are in a much lower percentage than in real life and are depicted as being unattractive, unsuccessful and ridiculous or with other negative traits and this is likely to result in a worsening of the isolation in which obese subjects are often forced. The different European countries have different TV legislations. CONCLUSION: The usual depiction of food and obesity in television has many documented negative consequences on food habits and patterns. The different national regulations on programs and advertising directed to children could have a role in the different prevalence of childhood obesity in different European countries. Television could be a convenient tool to spread correct information on good nutrition and obesity prevention.

Contemporary fluid intake and dental caries in Australian children

“…[7][8][9][10][11] This increased consumption is of concern to the health profession and may reflect extensive advertising of sweet drinks during children's television shows in many countries, including Australia. 4,[12][13][14][15][16] The beverage industry has reported increased sales of bottled water, 17 but there are no data to indicate children are drinking this in preference to tap water. Anecdotal reports linking increased caries prevalence and bottled water consumption are speculative.…”

Nutrition and body weights of Canadian children watching television and eating while watching television

“…Excess body weight negatively impacts self-esteem, social and cognitive development (2) , and leads to a spectrum of comorbidities including type 2 diabetes, CVD and multiple cancers that reduce quality of life, life expectancy, and cost billions of dollars in health-care spending (3)(4)(5) . Multiple cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have shown that increased television viewing is associated with an increased risk of obesity in children (6)(7)(8)(9)(10) . Except sleep, children spend more time watching television than doing any other single activity (11) .…”

“…Several mechanisms may underlie the positive association between television viewing and obesity. Television watching is sedentary and replaces more vigorous activities, leading to a decline in energy expenditure (10) . Another suggested mechanism is the influence of food advertisements on food choices and nutrition.…”

Impacts of Lifestyle and Socioeconomic Status on Childhood Obesity

“…21 This information would influence the choice of foods. Major proportion of food ads during the most popular sessions were sugarsweetened beverages and fast foods.…”

“…17 Scientists reviewed previous studies, and found TV viewing gradually occupied time of active activities. 21 As to recommendation in TV viewing, research suggested 2 hours as an indicator to predict unhealthy dietary habit and physical inactivity. Because the time spent on TV view would overlap the time spent on physical activity, "Healthy People 2010" set the physical activity goal of children and adolescents as "more than 75% children and adolescents watch TV less than 2 hours in a day".…”