title: Is "fat free" good for me? A panel study of television viewing and children's nutritional knowledge and reasoning.
abstract: The family diet is influenced by children's attitudes toward food, which in turn are influenced by television. In a panel study involving 134 children in 1st to 3rd grade, television viewing, nutritional knowledge, and nutritional reasoning were measured 6 weeks apart. Television viewing predicted subsequent decrements in nutritional knowledge and reasoning, but these findings were significant only for foods that tend to be heavily marketed as weight-loss aids. Television's framing of diet foods may confuse children by equating weight-loss benefits with nutritional benefits.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA. krishar@uiuc.edu
authors.forename: Kristen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harrison
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D032882:Comprehension; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013690:Television
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats