The Effects of a Bedroom Television

The ideal way to decrease childhood obesity is thought to be proper exercise along with a healthy diet. But one of the main distractions that lead both children and adults to a more sedentary lifestyle is the amount of television viewed. We don’t realize how much energy we put into sitting in front of the television to watch the newest episode of our favorite show at such an inconvenient time. Time spent watching television could be anchored into more productive ways such as potential exercise, or educational purposes. The average US adult watches television for five hours during the day. A study was done to take in account body max index, and the amount of sleep with bedroom television viewing. Having a television in one’s bedroom can make things more comforting and convenient. Time spent getting ready, going to bed and relaxing can be prolonged with the accessibility of a television.

Spending time in front of the television for more than three hours a day can be credited to an increase risk of obesity (Tucker and Bagwell, 1991; Tucker and Friedman, 1989). The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between time spent watching television in the bedroom, our body mass index, sleep time, and the television watched outside the bedroom. Participants of the study were between the ages of twenty-one and sixty-five and had a range of BMI’s from 25 to 50 kg/m^2. The data for the study was collected over a three week period with the participants watching their normal amount of television. To maintain the validity of the analysis, an electronic monitor recorded the amount of screen time for each participant. Location of the television and cumulative minutes watched was accounted for by the monitor. Amount of sleep was recorded by paper logs.

Looking at the results, there was no noteworthy difference in the baseline results of BMI and television time between those with bedroom TV’s and those without. Those with a television in their bedroom were found to have watched significantly more TV than those who didn’t have one. The most significant finding of the study was the obvious suggestion that obese and overweight people with a bedroom television spend more time in front of the TV than those without. While these results don’t prove much new material, it does lead to another point. Adolescents with bedroom TV’s are more likely to watch more TV than those without a bedroom television. Most people would agree that an immense amount of television cannot positively affect a child so the easy answer is to eliminate televisions in the bedroom so that parents can easily manage TV time. For quantitative results, adolescents with a bedroom TV watch about 8.4 hours of TV a week. In adults that have bedroom TV’s usually watch about 37.8 hours a week compared to 25.2 hours a week without a bedroom TV. Especially as adults, time is of value. Without a television in the bedroom not only could they have the possibility of maintaining a healthy lifestyle but give them an ample amount of time to do more productive things.

Relating this study to children, it’s been discovered that having a television in a child’s bedroom increases the risk of their BMI to reach over the 85th percentile and a higher chance of becoming overweight. Many families have more than one TV in their home; why take the health risks and put a TV in the child’s room? Limitations such as a small sample size, and an exclusive population of obese and overweight adults confines the results of the study. There were also several strengths in the study. In analyzing a small population, the accuracy of measuring screen time for results is extremely important. By using an electric monitor measure the amount of screen time the results were accurate and presentable. Because children are usually the ones studied to determine potential obesity, this was the first study that looked at obese adults. This could be something that will be researched more heavily in the future. If this is continued to be studied, there could be an easy life change to decrease the possibility of weight gain. So even though this study didn’t produce the particular results that researchers would have liked it did serve as an eye opener for other potential exploration.

If anything is taken away from this study, this research did serve for a practical reason. “Take the TV out of the bedroom” is a American health movement that deals with the issue of television and the corruption it can bring to time spend on healthy habits and exercise. Why not take the initiative when the likelihoods could of health and weight can only be positive? With more research and affirmative results that watching television in the bedroom increases overall amount of television viewed than people might then just decide to stop watching it there. This would bring the opportunity for more time leading to the chance for a healthier lifestyle.

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