TV viewing habits and body mass index among South Carolina Head Start children.
The present study tested the hypothesis that TV viewing habits and overweight would be associated among 4-year-old children. A convenience sample of Head Start students was enrolled (N=148). Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire on their children's TV viewing habits for a typical weekday, and for Saturday and Sunday. Height and weight of the children were assessed by the authors. As BMI increased, average hours of TV viewing increased slightly. Nearly 97% of children whose BMI was greater than the 95th percentile for age and sex watched more than one hour of TV, compared with less than 80% of children below the 95th percentile (chi2=6.0, P=.01). The present study suggests that TV viewing habits relate to BMI among 4-year old children to approximately the same degree as in older cohorts.
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA. slevin@cdc.gov
Sarah
S
Levin
Maurice W
MW
Martin
William F
WF
Riner
D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D002666:Psychology, Child; D012307:Risk Factors; D013022:South Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D013690:Television