Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108610

K. Viswanath, PhD, Center for Community-Based Research, Harvard School of Public Health/Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, SM 251, Boston, MA 02115, (617) 632-2225, vish_viswanath@dfci.harvard.edu and Shoba Ramanadhan, MPH, Dept. of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, 44 Binney St. SM 268, Boston, MA 02115.

Obesity is now considered an epidemic in the United States, with almost two-thirds of American adults either overweight or obese. Television use has been implicated as a significant contributor in two ways: (a) as a leisure time activity substituting physical activity, and (b) via ads on TV leading to increased food consumption. The causal relationship is widely accepted and interventions are being developed and implemented to reduce TV use.

Despite two decades of work, we argue that the relationship between obesity and television viewing is tenuous and fraught with methodological and theoretical confounders. One, most studies linking television with obesity used “time spent with TV” as a measure of exposure, which fails to capture exposure to the actual content as well to time spent with computers and other media. Second, with some exceptions, sample designs are primarily cross-sectional. Third, most of the evidence stems from work with children and there are few studies based on adults. Fourth, the underlying behavioral and cultural mechanisms that may explain the relationship are yet be elucidated. In short, despite the consensus, there is a major gap in the literature linking TV, diet, physical activity and obesity.

We present an evidence review of studies on TV viewing and obesity through a comprehensive review of literature published from 1985-2005. Our review examines issues such as measures of television exposure, study design, covariates of interest, demographic characteristics of the study population and strength of evidence. We will also discuss the practical implications of our findings.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

1)Assess gaps in the current literature linking TV and obesity.
• Think critically about study designs that will help address underlying mechanisms by which TV may affect obesity.

Keywords: Obesity,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation