Journal of Pediatric Neurological Disorders

Effects Of Stress On Child-IQ

To explore whether food choices are linked to the extent of television watching among teenagers. Design: A representative state-wide sample of 2082 junior high school students (aged 12–15 years) was surveyed cross-sectionally in Tasmania, Australia. Respondents completed a printed questionnaire, which asked inter alia what proportion time subjects spent watching television, how frequently they consumed each of twenty-two foods, their socio-demographic characteristics and their local dietary milieu (i.e. the frequency of usage of every food by parents and friends).Results: Respondents watched television for a mean of three .3 h per day (s.d. 1.9 h). For 18 of the 22 foods, there was a significant linear relation between hours of television watched per day and frequency of consumption of the food. For 10 of the 22 foods, it remained significant even after the addition of several predictor variables reflecting socio-demographic characteristics and therefore the frequency of consumption of the food by parents and friends. Students who watched television more extensively attended eat ‘healthy’ foods less often and ‘unhealthy’ foods more often.Conclusion: The results suggest possible dietary explanations for previous reports linking television watching to obesity and hypercholesterolaemia. In addition, they suggest that a high level of television watching could be a useful screening indicator of an unhealthy diet    

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