The association between television viewing and overweight among Australian adults participating in varying levels of leisure-time physical activity

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of physical activity on the association between television viewing and overweight (body mass index (BMI) ! 25 kgam 2 ). DESIGN: Cross-sectional study administered by interview to adults randomly selected from the electronic white pages. SUBJECTS: 3392 adults (64% response rate) from a representative population sample in the State of New South Wales, Australia. MEASUREMENTS: Self-reported height and weight, two-week leisure-time physical activity recall, one-week average television viewing recall. RESULTS: BMI and physical activity patterns were both associated with hours of television watched. Compared to those participants who reported watching less than one hour of television per day, those watching 1 to 2.5 hours were 93% more likely to be overweight (BMI ! 25 kgam 2 ), those watching 2.5 to 4 hours were 183% more likely to be overweight, those watching more than 4 hours per day were four times more likely to be overweight. Physical activity was not directly associated with being overweight, but an interaction between activity and television watching was present. Respondents in the low, moderate and high physical activity categories who reported watching more than 4 hours of television per day were twice as likely to be overweight compared to those who watched less than one hour of television per day, irrespective of physical activity participation. CONCLUSIONS: With approximately half the Australian adult population overweight or obese, these ®ndings indicate that public health strategies to reduce overweight and prevent weight gain may need to focus on reducing sedentary behaviours such as television viewing in addition to increasing physical activity.

Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behaviours in relation to body mass index-defined and waist circumference-defined obesity

“…In this representative Scottish sample, both physical activity and sedentary behaviour were independently related to BMI and WC. This independence in relation to obesity has been previously reported in European Union (6) and Australian (7) studies which, unlike the present study, did not differentiate between physical activity types and did not adjust for occupational physical activity. Our findings are in agreement with the Australian study where high levels of physical activity were not always protective against excess adiposity, if it was counteracted by high sedentary behaviour (7) .…”

“…This independence in relation to obesity has been previously reported in European Union (6) and Australian (7) studies which, unlike the present study, did not differentiate between physical activity types and did not adjust for occupational physical activity. Our findings are in agreement with the Australian study where high levels of physical activity were not always protective against excess adiposity, if it was counteracted by high sedentary behaviour (7) . In the present study, prevalence of obesity was still high in respondents who met the obesity-preventing recommendation and reported $ 4 h of TVSE per d (one in five by BMI-OB; one in four by WC-OB).…”

Physical activity, television viewing and body mass index: a cross-sectional analysis from childhood to adulthood in the 1958 British cohort

“…With time trends suggesting that sedentary behaviours are increasing, a growing number of studies are now focusing on, or including measurements of sedentary behaviour. Several cross-sectional studies in adults 3,34 and children 2,35,36 demonstrate a relationship between longer hours of television viewing and increased fatness, and it is likely that since a large proportion of the population watch television on a daily basis, duration of viewing will show stronger relationships than frequency, which might explain our null relationship at 16 y. However, longitudinal studies report less consistent results.…”

Children with a TV in their bedroom at higher risk for being overweight

“…2 Studies linking the convergence of these two trends have demonstrated that high levels of TV use are significantly associated with child overweight. [3][4][5][6] The average American household with children aged 8-18 years has three TV sets, and 68% of children have a TV in their own bedroom. 2 Averaging at least 3 h a day, child media exposure to TV exceeds other media, including exposure to videos/DVDs/movies, print media, audio media, computers and video games.…”

“…2 High amounts of TV use have been associated with many negative outcomes, including poor scholastic performance, 7,8 sleep deprivation, 9,10 child requests for advertised foods, 11 eating fewer fruits and vegetables and more pizza/snack food/soda, 12 greater consumption of high-fat foods 13 and higher BMI. [4][5][6]14 Overweight is associated with many diseases, 1,[15][16][17] and the greater the degree of overweight as a child, the greater the likelihood that child will be overweight as an adult. 18,19 Extensive research addressing the intersection of TV use and child overweight has included known risk factors for child overweight, such as sociodemographics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, household income, parent education), 20,21 dietary intake (amounts and types of foods eaten), 13 presence of TV at meals, 12 perception of parental weight status 5,20 and measures of physical activity.…”