Which home habits were linked to more TV viewing among young children?

Details

In Ireland, TV screen time is a highly prevalent sedentary behavior among children under five. Little is known about how parental rules and policies, or the availability and accessibility of screens at home, influence children’s TV viewing.

This cross-sectional study examined how parents’ sociodemographic characteristics and sedentary behaviors related to children’s TV screen time, and how parental rules and practices and the home physical environment related to children’s daily TV viewing. It included 332 children aged 3–5 and their parents. Children’s TV screen time and home environmental characteristics, including parents’ rules and practices and the physical environment, were assessed using questions from standardized and validated questionnaires. The researchers analyzed the data using binary logistic regression.

Among the sedentary behaviors evaluated, parents’ TV viewing was positively associated with children’s TV screen time (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.09–2.50, p = 0.018). Leaving the TV on whether or not it was being watched was associated with a 38% increased probability of children watching at least 1 hour of TV daily. Children whose parents restricted their outdoor activity were more likely to watch at least 1 hour of TV daily (OR 2.01, 95% CI 1.04–3.88, p = 0.036).

The findings linked parents’ own screen time behaviors, leaving the TV on regardless of whether it was being watched, and restricting outdoor play with higher children’s TV viewing at home. The authors said this knowledge is essential to inform future interventions addressing the increase in screen time among young children.