Differentiated mass media use: An exploration of adult obesity and "new media" use behaviors

Objective: Television viewing has recurrently emerged as one of several sedentary behaviors associated with adult obesity. Research exploring the link between obesity and new media use is limited. Within this context, this study explores associations between mass media use – including “new media” (i.e. Internet, video games, and other evolving media technologies) use behaviors -- and body mass index (BMI). Method: Responses were anonymously obtained via a self-administered Internet questionnaire from a random sample of adults (males, n = 426; females, n = 515) in the Seattle-Tacoma DMA. Respondents reported the time spent using media “during a typical week” outside of work/school along with gender, height and weight. Results: As expected, obese respondents watched significantly more television (M = 939.4 ms/wk) than did normal (M = 681.1) and overweight (M = 713.8) respondents. The same trend across BMI emerged for Internet use (normal, M = 563.7; overweight, M = 663.2; obese, M = 873.4). Examination of new media content features revealed significant trends for time spent using video games (VG) and sexually explicit materials (SEM). BMI normal (VG, M = 33.1; SEM, M = 10.4) and overweight (VG, M = 45.6; SEM, M = 28.2) respondents reported significantly less consumption than obese (VG, M = 135.9; SEM, M = 66.8) respondents. Women consistently reported less media use than men. Conclusions: New media use emerges as a highly attractive sedentary behavior for obese individuals- particularly males- that should be incorporated in construction of intervention models and behavioral screening tools associated with obesity.