Does eating during television viewing affect preschool children's intake

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of television (TV) viewing on children’s lunch and snack intake in one condition when the children watched a 22-minute cartoon video on TV (TV group), and in another without the TV (no TV group). Participants included 24 children and their parents, recruited from a university child-care center. Parents reported children’s TV viewing habits at home. Overall, children ate significantly less snack and lunch in the TV condition compared with the no TV condition. However, children who reportedly watched more daily hours of TV and who had a higher frequency of meals eaten in front of the TV at home ate more lunch in the TV condition. TV viewing may either increase or reduce children’s intake, depending on prior experience with eating during TV viewing. Children in the United States spend almost 20 hours per week watching television (TV) (1). Recent studies show that a large proportion of young children’s meals are consumed during TV viewing (2,3), but little is known about the impact of TV viewing on concomitant food intake in children. Experimental studies in adults suggest that allocation of attention on tasks such as video games or TV while eating may disrupt the ability to regulate energy intake and promote overeating (4-8). The objective of this study was to examine the effects of TV viewing on preschool children’s concomitant food intake, and to examine whether age, sex, weight status, or TV viewing history moderated the effects of TV viewing on food intake