Television Viewing and Physical Fitness in Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which time spent watching television is associated with cardiovascular fitness among 8,885 adults. Potential confounding effects of age, gender, smoking, length of work week, time reported exercising each week, and obesity were also examined. Subjects who watched TV more than 4 hours per day (frequent viewers) were 0.37 times as likely to be physically fit as those who watched TV less than 1 hour per day (infrequent viewers) with age and gender controlled. Similarly, adults who watched TV 3-4 hours per day (moderately frequent viewers) were 0.45 times as likely to be fit as infrequent watchers. Adjustment for potential confounders, particularly measured body fat and reported exercise duration in combination, weakened the TV viewing/fitness relation moderately. Given the findings of this study and the results of previous research, caution should be exercised regarding excessive television viewing.

Los factores ambientales y su influencia en los patrones de actividad física en adolescentes. (The environmental factors and their influence in the patterns of physical activity in adolescents.)

“…Por un lado, encontramos trabajos que afirman que el ocio tecnológico es uno de los factores que pueden influenciar la dedicación a la práctica de AF (Kimm et al, 1996;Shannon et al, 1991;Bernard et al, 1995;). Por otro lado, existen estudios que no encuentran ninguna relación (Tucker, 1990;Cantera, 1997;Biddle, 2003). Estas discrepancias pudieran ser debidas, al igual que hemos manifestado anteriormente, a los diferentes criterios utilizados a la hora de clasificar el grado de sedentarismo de la población adolescente.…”

Environmental Influences on Eating and Physical Activity

“…Although results of cross-sectional studies that have examined associations between television viewing and total physical activity energy expenditure have been inconsistent (14,36,68,81,82), several intervention studies targeting reductions in television viewing among children have shown promise. One study with third and fourth graders used a TV time manager (locking device) for home televisions and an 18-session school-based curriculum (67).…”

“…Television has been cited as a contributing factor to higher dietary energy or fat intake (29,36). Exposure to food advertising, especially commercials for fast food or convenience foods, may influence viewers' food choices toward higher-fat or higher-energy foods (14,29,36,43,44,76,81,82). Television is the most widely used advertising medium, which is not surprising given that televisions are present in 98% of US households and adults spend an average of 2 h per day watching TV (60).…”

“…Television Increasing time devoted to television viewing (and other related media, such as VCR, video game, computer, and internet use) has been often cited as an important contributing factor to the hypothesized increase in the prevalence of sedentary behavior during leisure time, and the decline in physical activity in the United States in recent decades (29,36,68,81,82). Americans say that television is the least necessary part of their lives, but they devote more time to it than any other leisure-time activity (66 (84).…”

Hábito de assistir à televisão e sua relação com a alimentação: resultados do período de 2006 a 2014 em capitais brasileiras

“…Além disso, outros achados associam esse hábito ao menor nível de condicionamento físico 50 , dislipidemia 49 , pressão arterial elevada 51 , diabetes tipo II 52 e síndrome metabó-lica 19 . De forma complementar, nossos resultados evidenciam, de forma inédita, a associação entre o hábito de ver TV por períodos prolongados e o consumo alimentar não saudável em adultos no país.…”