This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (9)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Obesity  • Pediatrics, Other  • Psychiatry  • Alert me on articles by topic

Hillary L. Burdette, MD, MS; Robert C. Whitaker, MD, MPH; Robert S. Kahn, MD, MPH; Jean Harvey-Berino, PhD, RD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2003;157:894-899.

Background  Decreasing television (TV)-viewing time may improve child health and well-being. These viewing patterns are shaped during the preschool years. Because mothers play an important role in determining how much TV their preschool children watch, a better understanding is needed of the maternal factors that influence children's TV viewing.

Objective  To examine the relationship of depressive symptoms and obesity in low-income mothers with TV-viewing time in their preschool children.

Methods  Cross-sectional, self-administered survey of 295 low-income mothers of 3- and 4-year-old children (92% white) enrolled in the Vermont Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. Mothers reported children's usual weekday and weekend-day TV-viewing time. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Maternal body mass index was calculated from self-reported height and weight measurements (weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared).

Results  Children watched a mean of 2.2 ±1.2 hours of TV per day. Those in the upper quartile of TV-viewing time (high TV viewers) watched 3 or more hours of TV per day. Of the mothers, 12% had both obesity (BMI 30) and depressive symptoms (CES-D score 16), 19% were obese only, and 18% had depressive symptoms only. Children were more likely to be high TV viewers if their mothers had clinically significant depressive symptoms (35% vs 23%; P = .03) or if their mothers were obese (35% vs 22%; P = .03). Forty-two percent of children were high TV viewers if the mother had both depressive symptoms and obesity, 30% if the mother had only depressive symptoms, 29% if the mother had only obesity, and 20% if the mother had neither depressive symptoms nor obesity (P = .06 overall; P for trend = .009 using the ² test).

Conclusions  Among low-income preschool children, those whose mothers had either depressive symptoms or obesity were more likely to watch 3 or more hours of TV a day. Strategies to reduce TV viewing in young children should consider the role that maternal obesity and depressive symptoms may play in how preschool children spend their time.

From the Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (Drs Burdette, Whitaker, and Kahn), and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (Drs Whitaker and Kahn), Cincinnati, Ohio; and the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Vermont, Burlington (Dr Harvey-Berino). Drs Burdette, Whitaker, Kahn, and Harvey-Berino have no relevant financial interest in this article.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

More Than Just a Communication Medium: What Older Adults Say About Television and Depression
Nguyen et al.
Gerontologist 2008;48:300-310.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Strong Association Between Time Watching Television and Blood Glucose Control in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes
Margeirsdottir et al.
Diabetes Care 2007;30:1567-1570.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Television Exposure and Overweight Risk in Preschoolers
Lumeng et al.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2006;160:417-422.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Early life risk factors for obesity in childhood: Authors' reply
Reilly et al.
BMJ 2005;331:454-454.
FULL TEXT