Linking obesity and activity level with children's television and video game use.pdf

ate/jadoJournal ofAdolescenceJournal of Adolescence 27 (2004) 71–85Linking obesity and activity level with children’s televisionand video game useElizabeth A. Vandewater*, Mi-suk Shim, Allison G. CaplovitzDepartment of Human Ecology, University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A2700, Austin, TX 78712-0143, USAAbstractThis study examined the links between childhood obesity, activity participation and television and videogame use in a nationally representative sample of children (N?2831) ages 1–12 using age-normed bodymass index (BMI) ratings. Results indicated that while television use was not related to children’s weightstatus, video game use was. Children with higher weight status played moderate amounts of electronicgames, while children with lower weight status played either very little or a lot of electronic analyses revealed that this curvilinear relationship applied to children under age 8 and that girls,but not boys, with higher weight status played more video games. Children ages 9–12 with lower weightstatus used puter (non-game) for moderate amounts of time, while those with higher weight statusused puter either very little or a lot. This was also true for the relationship between print use andweight status for children of all ages. Results also indicated that children with higher weight status spentmore time in sedentary activities than those with lower weight The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All the continuing popular conception that children’s television and video game use arecausally linked to the increasing prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents (Gortmaker,Dietz, Sobol, & Wehler, 1987), empirical evidence for this link is mixed at best. Studies examiningthe relationship between television viewing and obesity in children and adolescents haveconsistently found weak, if any, associations between the two phenomena (R