Too Much Tube Time?

The American Academy of Pediatrics is the source of the growing public health announcement “Take the TV out of the bedroom.” Many studies show that preschool children with a bedroom television are 31% more likely to be overweight, spend more time watching television, and sleep less at night. This produces an interesting question: With the knowledge of various negative effects of television viewing time, why is there so much emphasis put on children, but little to none on adults? It is known that the average American watches thirty-five hours of TV per week! The exact effects of excess television viewing are largely unknown, but a recent study was conducted in attempt to answer some of these questions. “Removing the Bedroom Television Set: A Possible Method for Decreasing Television Viewing Time in Overweight and Obese Adults” is an experiment that describes the effects of excess television viewing in adults and was recently published in Behavior Modification. This article suggests that taking the TV out of the bedroom may help to reduce the probability of becoming overweight or obese and also can help decrease TV viewing time.

Watching television for more than three hours per day is associated with increased risk of obesity; therefore the participants of this study are those adults who watch three to eight hours of television per day. Participants were aged between 21-65 years with a BMI range of 25-50. The experiment lasted three weeks during which time participants functioned (i.e. slept, watched TV, etc…) as they usually would. The amount of television viewing was determined using electronic monitors on the bedroom televisions only that recorded “screen time;” each member of the household was assigned a four digit viewing code that was used to turn on the television. This showed how much time each family member spent watching TV rather than the entire household. Sleep time was calculated by paper sleep logs and included not only night-time sleep, but also naps. These data were the key points in determining the relationship between bedroom television viewing and increased risk of obesity.

The results surprisingly showed no significant relationship between bedroom television viewing time and BMI or sleep time. However the data showed that those with a bedroom TV set watched significantly more TV (5.4 hours per day) than did those without a TV in the bedroom (3.6 hours per day). This is an extra 12.2 hours per week! The larger randomized control trial found that an intervention to reduce TV viewing time in overweight and obese adults produced a significant average increase in energy expenditure (119 kcal/day). From these results it can be concluded that by taking the TV out of the bedroom in order to reduce TV viewing time, people can achieve beneficial changes in energy balance and reverse their sedentary lifestyles.

This is the first study that has been conducted on observing the effects of television viewing time on adults, so there is much room for additional studies. This study suggests that bedroom TV viewing is associated with greater TV viewing outside of the bedroom. More studies on this particular type of behavior modification need to be conducted to determine whether removing the bedroom television set will truly affect the BMI of overweight and obese adults. If these results are conclusive, the public health message to remove the bedroom television set that was originally intended for children only could become a simple message and practical method for all Americans seeking to watch less television and potentially become healthier.