Television watching, energy intake, and obesity in US children: results from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between television watching, energy intake, physical activity, and obesity status in US boys and girls, aged 8 to 16 years.


METHODS
We used a nationally representative cross-sectional survey with an in-person interview and a medical examination, which included measurements of height and weight, daily hours of television watching, weekly participation in physical activity, and a dietary interview. Between 1988 and 1994, the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected data on 4069 children. Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic blacks were oversampled to produce reliable estimates for these groups.


RESULTS
The prevalence of obesity is lowest among children watching 1 or fewer hours of television a day, and highest among those watching 4 or more hours of television a day. Girls engaged in less physical activity and consumed fewer joules per day than boys. A higher percentage of non-Hispanic white boys reported participating in physical activity 5 or more times per week than any other race/ethnic and sex group. Television watching was positively associated with obesity among girls, even after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, family income, weekly physical activity, and energy intake.


CONCLUSIONS
As the prevalence of overweight increases, the need to reduce sedentary behaviors and to promote a more active lifestyle becomes essential. Clinicians and public health interventionists should encourage active lifestyles to balance the energy intake of children.
Crespo
C J
CJ
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 270 Farber Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000, USA. ccrespo@buffalo.edu
Smit
E
E
Troiano
R P
RP
Bartlett
S J
SJ
Macera
C A
CA
Andersen
R E
RE
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005006:Ethnicity; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013690:Television; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology