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. 2014 Jun;53(6):593-600.
doi: 10.1177/0009922814526973. Epub 2014 Mar 14.

Screen exposure and body mass index status in 2- to 11-year-old children

Kristin S Hendrix  1 , Aaron E Carroll, Stephen M Downs
Affiliations

Screen exposure and body mass index status in 2- to 11-year-old children

Kristin S Hendrix et al. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2014 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To measure the relationship between screen exposure and obesity in a large, urban sample of children and to examine whether the relationship is moderated by sociodemographics.

Methods: We asked parents of 11 141 children visiting general pediatrics clinics if the child had a television (TV) in the bedroom and/or watched more than 2 hours of TV/computer daily. We measured children's height and weight, then used logistic regression to determine whether screen exposure indicators predicted obesity (body mass index ≥ 85th percentile) and interacted with race/ethnicity, sex, age, and health care payer.

Results: Having a TV in the bedroom predicted obesity risk (P = .01); however, watching TV/computer for more than 2 hours a day did not (P = 0.54). There were no interactions.

Conclusions: Asking whether a child has a TV in the bedroom may be more important than asking about duration of screen exposure to predict risk for obesity.

Keywords: computers; electronic health records; obesity; overweight; television.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Example of CHICA pre-screener form (PSF) completed by parents of pediatric patients.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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