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Pediatrics

Do weight status and television viewing influence children’s subsequent dietary changes? A National Longitudinal Study in the United States

International Journal of Obesity volume 39, pages 931–938 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

It is unknown how children’s dietary changes would vary by overweight/obese status and length of television (TV) viewing. This study examined whether US children’s weight status and TV-viewing duration influenced their subsequent dietary behavioral changes.

Methods:

A national representative sample of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort were followed between 5th and 8th grades during 2004–2007 (N=7720). Children’s daily TV-viewing hour and weight status were measured at 5th grade. Children reported their dietary behaviors at the 5th and 8th grades, including fruit/vegetable consumption ⩾5 times per day (five-a-day), daily fast-food and soft drink consumption. Logistic models were used to estimate the odds ratio (OR) of dietary behavioral changes by children’s baseline weight status and TV-viewing duration. Gender and race/ethnicity differences in the ORs were examined. Sampling weight and design effect were considered for the analysis.

Results:

Among those without five-a-day at 5th grade, overweight/obese children were more likely to develop the five-a-day behavior at 8th grade than normal-weight children (for overweight: OR=1.65, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.14–2.39; obese: OR=1.35, 95% CI=0.81–2.23). Among girls, overweight group was more likely to develop eating vegetable ⩾3 times per day than normal-weight group, but 1 more h day–1 of TV viewing at baseline was associated with lower odds of developing eating vegetable ⩾3 times per day. Overweight/obese black and Hispanic children were significantly more likely to develop five-a-day than their normal-weight counterparts. TV viewing did not show modification effect on the association between weight status and subsequent dietary changes.

Conclusions:

Overweight/obese children were more likely to improve their subsequent fruit and vegetable consumption than normal-weight children, but TV viewing’s independent relationship with dietary changes may counteract the weight status-associated dietary improvement.

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Acknowledgements

The study was supported by research grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD064685-01A1), for which Dr Youfa Wang is the principal investigator. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. We thank Ms Courtney Blue’s editorial assistance and Dr Hong Xue’s comments to help improve the study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan, ROC

    H-J Chen

  2. Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Global Center on Childhood Obesity, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA

    H-J Chen & Y Wang

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Y Wang

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Correspondence to Y Wang.

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Chen, HJ., Wang, Y. Do weight status and television viewing influence children’s subsequent dietary changes? A National Longitudinal Study in the United States. Int J Obes 39, 931–938 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2015.16

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