Removing the Bedroom Television Set: A Possible Method for Decreasing Television Viewing Time in Overweight and Obese Adults

Abstract

U.S. adults watch television (TV) for an average of 5 hours per day, an amount associated with increased obesity risk. Studies in children have found bedroom TV sets, which result in greater time spent by watching TV and shorter sleep durations, both of which increase a child’s odds of becoming overweight. The authors examined associations between bedroom TV viewing time (BTVT), Body Mass Index (BMI), sleep time, non-BTVT, and total TV viewing time in 39 overweight and obese adults with and without a bedroom TV set. No significant correlations are found between BTVT and BMI or sleep time. BTVT is positively associated with non-BTVT (Spearman’s rho = 0.37, p = .076; n = 24). Participants with a bedroom TV tend to watch significantly more TV (5.4 hours per day ± 2.7; p = .057; n = 28) than do participants without a bedroom TV (3.6 ± 1.9 hours per day, p = .057; n = 11). This article suggested that taking the TV out of the bedroom may help to reduce overweight and obese adults can decrease their TV viewing time.

Keywords

bedroom television overweight obesity sleep adult

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