Child And Parental Characteristics Associated With Youth Television Viewing In A National Sample Of Girls And Boys

Abstract

Several studies have reported an association between television (TV) viewing and childhood overweight. However, few studies have examined the association of child and parental factors with youth TV viewing. PURPOSE Among 519 boys and 517 girls aged 10–18 years who completed mail panel surveys in 2002, the purpose of this analysis was to examine child and parental characteristics associated with TV viewing. METHODS The ConsumerStyles survey was sent to 10,000 households who were part of a consumer mail panel (response rate = 61%, n=6065). Of these households, 6027 received a HealthStyles survey to be completed by an adult, and 2444 also received a YouthStyles survey to be completed by a household child, yielding response rates of 73% (Healthstyles) and 62% (Youthstyles). Children were asked, “After school, on a typical weekday (Monday to Friday) during the school year, how many hours a day do you spend watching TV?” and “On an average weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) during the school year, how many hours do you spend watching TV?” Child and parent measures were placed into the following 4 variable groupings: demographic characteristics (parent age, sex, race, and marital status, household income, and household size); parent and child body mass index (BMI); parental imposition of rules to limit time spent viewing TV or playing video games; and parental TV viewing. Associations between the variable groupings and youth TV viewing were analyzed using hierarchal multiple linear regression. Weighted R2-values (R2) are reported. RESULTS Age- and sex-specific regression models accounted for 16–21% of the variance in TV viewing in boys and 9–21% in girls. However all models failed to reach significance among 13–15 year old girls. Among children 10–12 years, most of the variance in TV viewing was accounted for by parent and child BMI in boys (R2 = 0.07) and parental rules about TV viewing in girls (R2 = 0.10) and in 13–15 year old boys (R2 = 0.07). Demographic characteristics explained the most variance in TV viewing in 16–18 year old boys (R2 = 0.07), and girls' (R2 = 0.13). CONCLUSIONS Depending on the age and sex of the child, different child and parental characteristics were associated with youth TV viewing. Parental rules about TV viewing is a modifiable characteristic found to be correlated with youth TV viewing. These findings may be useful to facilitate design of TV reduction efforts for youth.