effect of television watching on child diet and physical activity

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted by questionnaire involving the mothers of 600 children aged from 8-12 years chosen from Maadi district. This questionnaire include the child personal data, family data, data about telvision watching and any other mother's notes. Analysis of the obtained data revealed that a long period of time is spent by children watching television. More than 90% of children look at television almost each day. More than 95% of children eat meals while watching the television. The food that children requested was greatly affected by food ads advertised on television. The physical activity of the children is inversely related to television viewing time. Girls are more affected by television food ads than boys. Playing with video games is much more common among boys than girls. All children [8-12 y] of the district were included. In conclusion, evaluation of the impact of television watching on diet and physical activity of the children is very important in order to develop strategies to prevent obesity and sedentary life style in children