Document Type

Article

Subject Area(s)

Public Health

Abstract

Introduction: American Indian children have high rates of overweight and obesity, which may be partially attributable to screen-time behavior. Young children's screen-time behavior is strongly influenced by their environment and their parents' behavior. We explored whether parental television watching time, parental perceptions of children's screen time, and media-related resources in the home are related to scree time (ie, television, DVD/video, video game, and computer use) among Oglala Lakota youth residing on or near the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Methods: We collected baseline data from 431 child and parent/caregiver pairs who participated in Bright Start, a group-randomized, controlled, school-based obesity prevention trial to reduce excess weight gain. Controlling for demographic characteristics, we used linear regression analysis to assess associations between children's screen time and parental television watching time, parental perceptions of children's screen time, and availability of media-related household resources.

Results: The most parsimonious model for explaining children screen time included the children's sex, parental body mass index, parental television watching time, how often the child watched television after school or in the evening, parental perception that the child spent too much time playing video games, how often the parent limited the child's television time, and the presence of a VCR/DVD player or video game player in the home (F7,367 = 14.67; P < .001; adjusted R2 = .37). The presence of a television in the bedroom did not contribute significantly to the model.

Conclusion: Changes in parental television watching time, parental influence over children's screen-time behavior, and availability of media-related resources in the home could decrease screen time and may be used as a strategy for reducing overweight and obesity in American Indian children.

Rights

Barr-Anderson, D. J., Fulkerson, J. A., Smyth, M., Himes, J. H., Hannan, P. J., Holy Rock, B., & Story, M. (2011). Associations of American Indian children's screen-time behavior with parental television behavior, parental perceptions of children's screen time, and media-related resources in the home. Preventing Chronic Disease, 8(5), A105(1)-A105(10).

© Preventing Chronic Disease, 2011, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

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