Abstract
BackgroundFew young people meet television viewing guidelines.PurposeTo determine the association between factors in the family and home environment and watching television, including videos and DVDs, in early adolescence.MethodsCross-sectional, self-report survey of 343 adolescents aged 12–13 years (173 girls), and their parents (338 mothers, 293 fathers). Main measures were factors in the family and home environment potentially associated with adolescents spending ≥ 2 hours per day in front of the television. Factors examined included family structure, opportunities to watch television/video/DVDs, perceptions of rules and regulations on television viewing, and television viewing practices.ResultsTwo-thirds of adolescents watched ≥ 2 hours television per day. Factors in the family and home environment associated with adolescents watching television ≥ 2 hours per day include adolescents who have siblings (Adjusted Odds Ratio [95%CI] AOR = 3.0 [1.2, 7.8]); access to pay television (AOR = 2.0 [1.1, 3.7]); ate snacks while watching television (AOR = 3.1 [1.8, 5.4]); co-viewed television with parents (AOR = 2.3 [1.3, 4.2]); and had mothers who watched ≥ 2 hours television per day (AOR = 2.4 [1.3, 4.6]).ConclusionThere are factors in the family and home environment that influence the volume of television viewed by 12–13 year olds. Television plays a central role in the family environment, potentially providing a means of recreation among families of young adolescents for little cost. Interventions which target family television viewing practices and those of parents, in particular, are more likely to be effective than interventions which directly target adolescent viewing times.
Highlights
Few young people meet television viewing guidelines.Purpose: To determine the association between factors in the family and home environment and watching television, including videos and DVDs, in early adolescence
There is consistent evidence that time spent in front of a television is associated with a number of negative outcomes among adolescents, including overweight and obesity [7]
Two-thirds of the adolescents reported spending more than 2 hours a day watching television/video/DVDs, with boys watching a median of 2.3 hours per day and girls 2.4 hours per day (0 – 7.6)
Summary
Few young people meet television viewing guidelines.Purpose: To determine the association between factors in the family and home environment and watching television, including videos and DVDs, in early adolescence. Television is ubiquitous, with at least one television set present in most family homes in developed countries [1]. It is, not surprising that time spent in front of a television set watching television, videos or DVDs is one of the most prevalent leisure time activities among young people in industrialized nations [2,3,4]. The evidence that physical activity among children and adolescents is displaced by time spent in front of television is, equivocal [6]. Guidelines for television viewing recommend that children aged 2 years and older watch less than two hours of television per day [10]. Between 25% and 40% of adolescents aged 11 to 15 years report watching more than 3–4 hours per day [4]
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