title: TV viewing and BMI by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the association between TV viewing and obesity by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analysis of 5,087 respondents to the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS), a nationally representative sample of US adults. Multivariate regression models were computed to assess the association between quartiles of TV viewing and BMI, stratified by race/ethnicity, educational attainment, employment and health insurance status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings indicate that increased TV viewing was associated with higher odds for being overweight/obese in the entire sample, while adjusting for physical activity and other confounders. After stratification by race/ethnicity, increased odds for overweight/obesity in the 3(rd) and 4(th) quartiles of TV viewing (e.g., 3(rd) quartile-cumulative OR = 1.43, 95%CI 1.07-1.92) was observed in non-Hispanic whites, with statistical significance. In non-Hispanic blacks and Hispanics, the odds were similar to whites, but did not reach statistical significance. Significant relations between greater TV viewing and increased BMI were observed in college graduates and non-graduates, those with health insurance and the employed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study extends previous research by examining potential inconsistencies in this association between various racial/ethnic groups and some socio-economic variables, which primarily were not found.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Dallas Regional Campus, Dallas, Texas, United States of America. Kerem.Shuval@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Kerem
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Shuval
authors.forename: Kelley Pettee
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.forename: Tammy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Leonard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044382:Population Groups; D012923:Social Class; D013690:Television; D055815:Young Adult