ResearchResearch and Professional BriefDoes Eating during Television Viewing Affect Preschool Children’s Intake?
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 3- to 5-year-old (mean, 4.6±0.7 years) preschool children attending a full-day university day-care program in central Pennsylvania. Of the 40 age-eligible children in two classrooms, 24 children (12 male, 12 female) were given consent to participate in the study; complete data were obtained from 17 mothers. The Pennsylvania State University Institutional Review Board approved all study procedures, and mothers provided consent for their family’s participation before the study
Results and Discussion
Children were within the normal range for BMI (15.9±1.2), corresponding to a BMI percentile of 61. Mothers were, on average, in their mid-30s (35.4±6.0 years), predominantly non-Hispanic white, and well educated, with 84% reporting some college education. A majority of families (76%) reported mean annual family incomes >$50,000. Mothers reported that children watched an average of 1.5 hours of TV daily, and that 33% of children reportedly ate meals or snacks while watching TV; reports ranged
Conclusions
To promote self-regulation of energy intake in young children, parents and caregivers should be advised against providing opportunities for children to eat during TV viewing.
L. A. Francis is an assistant professor of Biobehavioral Health and L. L. Birch is a distinguished professor of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
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2018, International Journal of Surgery OpenWatching television while eating increases energy intake. Examining the mechanisms in female participants
2014, AppetiteCitation Excerpt :Distraction may not be the only way that TV could affect the amount of food eaten. In a study with children, Francis and Birch (2006) found that TV only acted to increase food intake in those who reported watching more TV at home and in those who more regularly ate with the TV on. One way in which regular exposure to TV could affect ingestive behaviour in both children and adults is through associative learning.
L. A. Francis is an assistant professor of Biobehavioral Health and L. L. Birch is a distinguished professor of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park.