Research from JAMA — Reducing Children's Television Viewing to Prevent Obesity — A Randomized Controlled Trial — ContextSome observational studies have found an association between television viewing and child and adolescent adiposity.ObjectiveTo assess the effects of reducing television, videotape, and video game use on changes in adiposity, physical activity, and dietary intake.DesignRandomized controlled school-based trial conducted from September 1996 to April 1997.SettingTwo sociodemographically and scholastically matched public elementary schools in San Jose, Calif.ParticipantsOf 198 third- and fourth-grade students, who were given parental consent to participate, 192 students (mean age, 8.9 years) completed the study.InterventionChildren in 1 elementary school received an 18-lesson, 6-month classroom curriculum to reduce television, videotape, and video game use.Main Outcome MeasuresChanges in measures of height, weight, triceps skinfold thickness, waist and hip circumferences, and cardiorespiratory fitness; self-reported media use, physical activity, and dietary behaviors; and parental report of child and family behaviors. The primary outcome measure was body mass index, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters.ResultsCompared with controls, children in the intervention group had statistically significant relative decreases in body mass index (intervention vs control change: 18.38 to 18.67 kg/m2 vs 18.10 to 18.81 kg/m2, respectively; adjusted difference −0.45 kg/m2 [95% confidence interval {CI}, −0.73 to −0.17]; P=.002), triceps skinfold thickness (intervention vs control change: 14.55 to 15.47 mm vs 13.97 to 16.46 mm, respectively; adjusted difference, −1.47 mm [95% CI, −2.41 to −0.54]; P=.002), waist circumference (intervention vs control change: 60.48 to 63.57 cm vs 59.51 to 64.73 cm, respectively; adjusted difference, −2.30 cm [95% CI, −3.27 to −1.33]; P<.001), and waist-to-hip ratio (intervention vs control change: 0.83 to 0.83 vs 0.82 to 0.84, respectively; adjusted difference, −0.02 [95% CI, −0.03 to −0.01]; P<.001). Relative to controls, intervention group changes were accompanied by statistically significant decreases in children's reported television viewing and meals eaten in front of the television. There were no statistically significant differences between groups for changes in high-fat food intake, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, and cardiorespiratory fitness.ConclusionsReducing television, videotape, and video game use may be a promising, population-based approach to prevent childhood obesity.

Obesity is one of the best-documented outcomes of screen media exposure. Many observational studies find relationships between screen media exposure and increased risks of obesity. Randomized controlled trials of reducing screen time in community settings have reduced weight gain in children, demonstrating a cause and effect relationship. Current evidence suggests that screen media exposure leads to obesity in children and adolescents through increased eating while viewing; exposure to high-calorie, low-nutrient food and beverage marketing that influences children’s preferences, purchase requests, consumption habits; and reduced sleep duration. Some evidence also suggests promise for using interactive media to improve eating and physical activity behaviors to prevent or reduce obesity. Future interdisciplinary research is needed to examine the effects of newer mobile and other digital media exposures on obesity; to examine the effectiveness of additional interventions to mitigate the adverse effects of media exposures on obesity and possible moderators and mediators of intervention effects; to effectively use digital media interventions to prevent and reduce obesity; and to uncover the mechanisms underlying the causal relationships and interactions between obesity-related outcomes and media content, characteristics, and context.

Journal of Medical Internet Research - International Scientific Journal for Medical Research, Information and Communication on the Internet

Objective To examine the effects of cumulative, real-world marketing and brand exposures on young children by testing the influence of branding from a heavily marketed source on taste preferences. Design Experimental study. Children tasted 5 pairs of identical foods and beverages in packaging from McDonald's and matched but unbranded packaging and were asked to indicate if they tasted the same or if one tasted better. Setting Preschools for low-income children. Participants Sixty-three children (mean ± SD age, 4.6 ± 0.5 years; range, 3.5-5.4 years). Main Exposure Branding of fast foods. Outcome Measures A summary total taste preference score (ranging from −1 for the unbranded samples to 0 for no preference and +1 for McDonald's branded samples) was used to test the null hypothesis that children would express no preference. Results The mean ± SD total taste preference score across all food comparisons was 0.37 ± 0.45 (median, 0.20; interquartile range, 0.00-0.80) and significantly greater than zero (P<.001), indicating that children preferred the tastes of foods and drinks if they thought they were from McDonald’s. Moderator analysis found significantly greater effects of branding among children with more television sets in their homes and children who ate food from McDonald's more often. Conclusion Branding of foods and beverages influences young children's taste perceptions. The findings are consistent with recommendations to regulate marketing to young children and also suggest that branding may be a useful strategy for improving young children's eating behaviors. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier:NCT00185536.

Digital experiences capture an increasingly large part of life, making them a preferred, if not required, method to describe and theorize about human behavior. Digital media also shape behavior by enabling people to switch between different content easily, and create unique threads of experiences that pass quickly through numerous information categories. Current methods of recording digital experiences provide only partial reconstructions of digital lives that weave – often within seconds – among multiple applications, locations, functions, and media. We describe an end-to-end system for capturing and analyzing the “screenome” of life in media, i.e., the record of individual experiences represented as a sequence of screens that people view and interact with over time. The system includes software that collects screenshots, extracts text and images, and allows searching of a screenshot database. We discuss how the system can be used to elaborate current theories about psychological processing of technology, and suggest new theoretical questions that are enabled by multiple timescale analyses. Capabilities of the system are highlighted with eight research examples that analyze screens from adults who have generated data within the system. We end with a discussion of future uses, limitations, theory, and privacy.