THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG TELEVISION WATCHING, PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY, AND BODY-COMPOSITION OF YOUNG-CHILDREN

Purpose. Television watching has been reported to be associated with o besity, resting energy expenditure, and lower daily physical activity among both children and adolescents. However, most of these studies we re based on self report or data collected in laboratory settings. This study examined the relationship among observed time of television wat ching, observed physical activity level and body composition among 3- or 4-year-old children. Methods. African-American (41.4%), Mexican-Ame rican (23%), and Angle-American (35.6%) children (N = 191, males = 90) from the Texas site of the Studies of Child Activity and Nutrition pr ogram were observed from 6 to 12 hours per day up to 4 days over 1 yea r. Activity level each minute of the day was measured with the Childre n's Activity Rating Scale (interobserver reliability = .84 +/- .001). The interobserver reliability of time of television watching was .96 /- .08. Results. The median of the longest number of consecutive minut es of television watching was 15 (range = 1 to 79). The median percent of minutes of television watching of total observed minutes was 14.8% (0% to 58%) and the median percent of minutes of inside minutes was 1 7.9% (0% to 80.9%). There were no gender or ethnic differences in time watching television or physical activity during television watching. Physical activity during television watching was lowest during the lon gest bout of television watching ((x) over bar = 1.48 +/- .28) compare d to outside minutes ((x) over bar = 2.38 +/- .21), inside non-televis ion minutes ((x) over bar = 1.96 +/- .13) and inside television minute s ((x) over bar = 1.65 +/- .18). The level of physical activity during television-watching times was highest (P <.0031) during October and N ovember and lowest during March, April, June, and July. Longest bout o f television watching and percent of minutes watching television to to tal observed minutes were inversely associated with mean physical acti vity, percent of minutes of physical activity levels 3, 4, or 5, and p ercent of physical activity levels 4 or 5. Percent of television watch ing to inside minutes was negatively correlated with physical activity levels 4 or 5. Television-watching behavior was not associated with b ody composition. Conclusions. Television watching was weakly negativel y correlated with physical activity levels, and physical activity was lower during television-watching than non-television-watching time in this sample of children. Television viewing behavior was not associate d with body composition.