Effects of contingent television on physical activity and television viewing in obese children

Objective. Elevated television (TV) viewing and physical inactivity promote obesity in children. Thus, changes in physical activity and sedentary beha vior seem critical to treating childhood obesity. Present Study. Using a randomized, 2-arm design, this pilot study tested th e effects of contingent TV on physical activity and TV viewing in 10 obese children. TV viewing was contingent on pedaling a stationary cycle ergomete r for experimental participants but was not contingent on pedaling for cont rol participants. The study was conducted over 12 weeks, including a 2-week baseline period. Results. Multivariate analyses indicated that the intervention significantl y increased pedaling and reduced TV-viewing time. During the treatment phas e, the experimental group pedaled 64.4 minutes per week on average, compare d with 8.3 minutes by controls. The experimental group watched 1.6 hours of TV per week on average, compared with 21.0 hours per week on average by co ntrols during this phase. Secondary analyses indicated that the experimenta l group showed significantly greater reductions in total body fat and perce nt leg fat. Total pedaling time during intervention correlated with greater reductions in percent body fat (r = -0.68). Conclusions. Contingencies in the home environment can be arranged to modif y physical activity and TV viewing and may have a role in treating childhoo d obesity. Contingent TV may be one method to help achieve this goal.