Associations between eating meals, watching TV while eating meals and weight status among children, ages 10–12 years in eight European countries: the ENERGY cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundTo assess the association of eating meals, and never watching TV while eating meals, with weight status among children, ages 10–12 years across Europe.Methods7915 children (mean age: 11.5 years) in eight European countries (Belgium, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland) completed a questionnaire at school. Data on meals eaten the day before questionnaire administration and the frequency of eating meals while watching TV were collected. Height and weight of the children were objectively assessed. Multinomial and binary regression analyses were conducted to test associations of eating meals (adjusted for gender and ethnicity) and never watching TV while eating meals (adjusted for gender, ethnicity and total TV time) with overweight/obesity, and to test for country- and socio-demographic differences.ResultsThe proportions of children reporting eating breakfast, lunch and dinner were 85%, 96%, and 93% respectively, and 55%, 46% and 32% reported to never watch TV at breakfast, lunch and dinner respectively. The children who ate breakfast (OR = 0.6 (95% CI 0.5-0.7)) and dinner (OR = 0.4 (95% CI 0.3-0.5)), had lower odds of being overweight compared to those who did not. The children who never watched TV at lunch (OR = 0.7 (95% CI 0.7-0.8)) and dinner (OR = 0.8 (95% CI 0.7-0.9)) had lower odds of being overweight compared to those who watched TV at the respective meals.ConclusionsThe odds of being overweight was lower for children who ate breakfast and dinner compared to those who did not eat the respective meals. The odds of being overweight was lower for children who reported to never watch TV at lunch and dinner compared to those who did. A focus towards meal frequency and watching TV during meals in longitudinal and interventions studies in prevention of overweight and obesity, may contribute to a better understanding of causality.

Prevalence of Obesity in School Children and Its Relation to Lifestyle Behaviors in Al-Ahsa District of Saudi Arabia

“…This was in contrast to the findings from a recent study that included eight European countries which found that the odds of being overweight was lower for children who reported to never watch TV at lunch and dinner compared to those who did (Vik et al, 2013). On the other hand, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in this study showed a significant independent association with eating during emotional stresses.…”

Prevalence and Correlates of Preschool Overweight and Obesity Amidst the Nutrition Transition: Findings from a National Cross-Sectional Study in Lebanon

“…In our study, the time spent on TV viewing was not directly assessed, but a positive association was found between preschool overweight/obesity and eating while watching TV. Several studies have shown that eating in front of the TV is positively associated with higher BMI among children, an association that is independent of the overall time spent watching TV or the sedentary behavior that accompanies it [60,61]. Dubois et al showed that four- to five-year-old children who frequently ate in front of the TV had higher BMI relative to their peers, while no significant associations were found between the child’s BMI and the overall time spent watching TV [3].…”

Associations between family eating behaviours and body composition measures in peri-adolescents: Results from a community-based study of school-aged children

“…[6][7][8][9] Some home factors shown to be important determinants of the dietary and physical activity habits of children include parental modeling of healthful eating, [9][10][11][12][13][14] regularity of meals, [15][16][17] and parental participation in regular physical activity. 12,18 While a large number of studies have been conducted on the role of child eating behaviours and parental feeding practices on obesity risk in children [19][20][21] and a few studies have been conducted on the role of mothers' and fathers' own eating behaviours, 22,23 to our knowledge, no studies have simultaneously assessed the role of child, mother and father eating behaviours -something that is necessary to understand the relative impacts of these behaviours. To address this gap in knowledge and further inform the development of family-based interventions designed to reduce the risk of childhood overweight and obesity, the objectives of this study were to identify key eating behaviours among peri-adolescent children and their parents and to estimate the associations between these behaviours and five measures of body composition in children, including body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, waist girth, and hip girth.…”