The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity

Children who watch a lot of television have an increased risk of overweight during childhood and are more likely to be overweight as adults. Indeed, in a longitudinal study of 1037 New Zealand men followed between the ages of 5 and 32, childhood television viewing was a better predictor of adult BMI and fitness than adult viewing and remained a significant predictor of these outcomes even after adjusting for adult viewing. This chapter reviews research that highlights the need to educate parents and children about healthy media diets when children are still quite young. Although much remains to be understood about exactly how children's heavy media use contributes to childhood obesity, there is now a solid evidence base that can be used to design screen time reduction interventions. Healthcare providers, moreover, can suggest simple steps that families can implement to limit screen time to 3 hours per day or less as a strategy for combating overweight, including removing televisions from children's bedrooms, becoming more aware of children's screen media time, and disconnecting eating from viewing.