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Bedroom TV viewing increased obesity, cardiometabolic risk in children
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The presence of a TV in the bedroom and TV viewing time were associated with high waist circumference, fat mass and abdominal subcutaneous adiposity in a cross-sectional study of children and adolescents.
According to researchers, having a TV in the bedroom was also associated with higher cardiometabolic risk (OR=2.9) and high triglycerides (OR=2.0).
“This present study presents novel findings in regard to the relationship between TV and fat mass and depot-specific adiposity, using DXA and MRI: the gold standards for these measurements,” Amanda E. Staiano, PhD, and colleagues at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La., wrote in their study. “Having a TV in the bedroom and viewing TV >2 hours/day were each associated with 2 to 2.5 times the odds of being in the top quartile of fat mass, even when adjustments were made for age, gender, ethnicity, [moderate-to-vigorous physical activity] level and diet.”
Staiano and colleagues studied 369 children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years from 2010 to 2011. They examined waist circumference; fat mass by DXA; and abdominal subcutaneous and visceral adiposity by MRI.
They also observed cardiometabolic risk, defined as three or more risk factors, including adverse levels of waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL-C and glucose.
Using self-reported TV presence in the bedroom and TV viewing time, researchers computed ORs for high fat mass, subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue mass and cardiometabolic risk. They adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity level and unhealthy diet.
Having a TV in the bedroom and TV viewing time were associated with higher odds of high waist circumference (OR=1.9-2.1); fat mass (OR=2.0-2.5); and subcutaneous adiposity (OR=2.1-2.9; P<.05 for all). Watching TV for at least 5 hours per day was associated with high visceral adiposity (OR=2.0).
“The influence of TV on the health of children and adolescents is of substantial importance to public health,” the researchers wrote.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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