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Results From the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994

Carlos J. Crespo, DrPH, MS; Ellen Smit, PhD, RD; Richard P. Troiano, PhD, RD; Susan J. Bartlett, PhD; Caroline A. Macera, PhD; Ross E. Andersen, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:360-365.

Objectives  To examine the relationship between television watching, energy intake, physical activity, and obesity status in US boys and girls, aged 8 to 16 years.

Methods  We used a nationally representative cross-sectional survey with an in-person interview and a medical examination, which included measurements of height and weight, daily hours of television watching, weekly participation in physical activity, and a dietary interview. Between 1988 and 1994, the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey collected data on 4069 children. Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic blacks were oversampled to produce reliable estimates for these groups.

Results  The prevalence of obesity is lowest among children watching 1 or fewer hours of television a day, and highest among those watching 4 or more hours of television a day. Girls engaged in less physical activity and consumed fewer joules per day than boys. A higher percentage of non-Hispanic white boys reported participating in physical activity 5 or more times per week than any other race/ethnic and sex group. Television watching was positively associated with obesity among girls, even after controlling for age, race/ethnicity, family income, weekly physical activity, and energy intake.

Conclusions  As the prevalence of overweight increases, the need to reduce sedentary behaviors and to promote a more active lifestyle becomes essential. Clinicians and public health interventionists should encourage active lifestyles to balance the energy intake of children.

From the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo (Dr Crespo); Schools of Public Health (Dr Smit) and Medicine (Drs Bartlett and Andersen), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md; National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md (Dr Troiano); and the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga (Dr Macera).

Corresponding author: Ross E. Andersen, PhD, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 4940 Eastern Ave, Suite 025, Baltimore, MD 21224 (e-mail: andersen{at}jhmi.edu).
Reprints: Carlos J. Crespo, DrPH, MS, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 270 Farber Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214-3000 (e-mail: ccrespo{at}buffalo.edu).

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