Increased cardio-metabolic risk is associated with increased TV viewing time

Purpose: Television viewing time, independent of leisure-time physical activity, has cross-sectional relationships with the metabolic syndrome and its individual components. We examined whether baseline and five-year changes in self-reported television viewing time are associated with changes in continuous biomarkers of cardio-metabolic risk (waist circumference, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose; and a clustered cardio-metabolic risk score) in Australian adults. Methods: AusDiab is a prospective, population-based cohort study with biological, behavioral, and demographic measures collected in 1999–2000 and 2004–2005. Non-institutionalized adults aged ≥ 25 years were measured at baseline (11,247; 55% of those completing an initial household interview); 6,400 took part in the five-year follow-up biomedical examination, and 3,846 met the inclusion criteria for this analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was used and unstandardized B coefficients (95% CI) are provided. Results: Baseline television viewing time (10 hours/week unit) was not significantly associated with change in any of the biomarkers of cardio-metabolic risk. Increases in television viewing time over five years (10 hours/week unit) were associated with increases in: waist circumference (cm) (men: 0.43 (0.08, 0.78), P = 0.02; women: 0.68 (0.30, 1.05), P <0.001), diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) (women: 0.47 (0.02, 0.92), P = 0.04), and the clustered cardio-metabolic risk score (women: 0.03 (0.01, 0.05), P = 0.007). These associations were independent of baseline television viewing time and baseline and change in physical activity and other potential confounders. Conclusion: These findings indicate that an increase in television viewing time is associated with adverse cardio-metabolic biomarker changes. Further prospective studies using objective measures of several sedentary behaviors are required to confirm causality of the associations found.

Physical activity, sitting and depression during pregnancy

Aims The aim of this cross sectional study is to explore levels of physical activity and sitting behaviour amongst a sample of pregnant Australian women (n = 81), and investigate whether reported levels of physical activity and/or time spent sitting were associated with depressive symptom scores after controlling for potential covariates. Methods Study participants were women who attended the antenatal clinic of a large Brisbane maternity hospital between October and November 2006. Data relating to participants. current levels of physical activity, sitting behaviour, depressive symptoms, demographic characteristics and exposure to known risk factors for depression during pregnancy were collected; via on-site survey, follow-up telephone interview (approximately one week later) and post delivery access to participant hospital records. Results Participants were aged 29.5 (¡¾ 5.6) years and mostly partnered (86.4%) with a gross household income above $26,000 per annum (88.9%). Levels of physical activity were generally low, with only 28.4 % of participants reporting sufficient total activity and 16% of participants reporting sufficient planned (leisure-time) activity. The sample mean for depressive symptom scores measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D) was 6.38 (¡¾ 2.55). The mean depressive symptom scores for participants who reported total moderate-to-vigorous activity levels of sufficient, insufficient, and none, were 5.43 (¡¾ 1.56), 5.82 (¡¾ 1.77) and 7.63 (¡¾ 3.25), respectively. Hierarchical multivariable linear regression modelling indicated that after controlling for covariates, a statistically significant difference of 1.09 points was observed between mean depressive symptom scores of participants who reported sufficient total physical activity, compared with participants who reported they were engaging in no moderate-to-vigorous activity in a typical week (p = 0.05) but this did not reach the criteria for a clinically meaningful difference. Total physical activity was contributed 2.2% to the total 30.3% of explained variance within this model. The other main contributors to explained variance in multivariable regression models were anxiety symptom scores and the number of existing children. Further, a trend was observed between higher levels of planned sitting behaviour and higher depressive symptom scores (p = 0.06); this correlation was not clinically meaningful. Planned sitting contributed 3.2% to the total 31.3 % of explained variance. The number of regression covariates and limited sample size led to a less than ideal ratio of covariates to participants, probably attenuating this relationship. Specific information about the sitting-based activities in which participants engaged may have provided greater insight about the relationship between planned sitting and depressive symptoms, but these data were not captured by the present study. Conclusions The finding that higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms is consistent with the current body of existing literature in pregnant women, and with a larger body of evidence based in general population samples. Although this result was not considered clinically meaningful, the criterion for a clinically meaningful result was an a priori decision based on quality of life literature in non-pregnant populations and may not truly reflect a difference in symptoms that is meaningful to pregnant women. Further investigation to establish clinically meaningful criteria for continuous depressive symptom data in pregnant women is required. This result may have implications relating to prevention and management options for depression during pregnancy. The observed trend between planned sitting and depressive symptom scores is consistent with literature based on leisure-time sitting behaviour in general population samples, and suggests that further research in this area, with larger samples of pregnant women and more specific sitting data is required to explore potential associations between activities such as television viewing and depressive symptoms, as this may be an area of behaviour that is amenable to modification.

Psychological determinants and outcomes of sedentary and physical activity behaviours

There is now a large body of literature that supports the protective role of physical activity for both physical and psychological health. Sedentary behaviour was previously considered the functional opposite of physical activity, but 10 years ago, Owen and colleagues highlighted the need to study physical activity and sedentary behaviour as two distinct modes of behaviour that can independently influence health [1]. Since then, there has been growing evidence that participation in sedentary behaviours such as television viewing, computer use and sitting at work are associated with higher risk of chronic disease outcomes (type 2 diabetes, obesity), and leisure-time sitting has recently been associated with increased mortality [2]. Growing research points to the possible synergistic effects of physical activity and sedentary behaviours in contributing to health outcomes

Correlates of sedentary behaviours in preschool children : a review

Background Sedentary behaviour has been linked with a number of health outcomes. Preschool-aged children spend significant proportions of their day engaged in sedentary behaviours. Research into the correlates of sedentary behaviours in the preschool population is an emerging field, with most research being published since 2002. Reviews on correlates of sedentary behaviours which include preschool children have previously been published; however, none have reported results specific to the preschool population. This paper reviews articles reporting on correlates of sedentary behaviour in preschool children published between 1993 and 2009. Methods A literature search was undertaken to identify articles which examined correlates of sedentary behaviours in preschool children. Articles were retrieved and evaluated in 2008 and 2009. Results Twenty-nine studies were identified which met the inclusion criteria. From those studies, 63 potential correlates were identified. Television viewing was the most commonly examined sedentary behaviour. Findings from the review suggest that child's sex was not associated with television viewing and had an indeterminate association with sedentary behaviour as measured by accelerometry. Age, body mass index, parental education and race had an indeterminate association with television viewing, and outdoor playtime had no association with television viewing. The remaining 57 potential correlates had been investigated too infrequently to be able to draw robust conclusions about associations. Conclusions The correlates of preschool children's sedentary behaviours are multi-dimensional and not well established. Further research is required to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the influences on preschool children's sedentary behaviours to better inform the development of interventions.

Past-day recall of sedentary time: Validity of a self-reported measure of sedentary time in a university population

Background Sedentary behaviour is associated with several deleterious health consequences. Although device-based measures of sedentary time are available, they are costly and do not provide a measure of domain specific sedentary time. High quality self-report measures are necessary to accurately capture domain specific sedentary time, and to provide an alternative to devices when cost is an issue. In this study, the Past-day Adults’ Sedentary Time (PAST) questionnaire, previously shown to have acceptable validity and reliability in a sample of breast cancer survivors, was modified for a university sample and validity of the modified questionnaire was examined compared with activPAL. Methods Participants (n = 58, age = 18–55 years, 48% female, 66% students) were recruited from the University of Queensland (students and staff). They answered the PAST questionnaire, which asked about time spent sitting or lying down for work, study, travel, television viewing, leisure-time computer use, reading, eating, socialising and other purposes, during the previous day. Time reported for these questions was summed to provide a measure of total sedentary time. Participants also wore an activPAL device for the full day prior to completing the questionnaire and recorded their wake and sleep times in an activity log. Total waking sedentary time derived from the activPAL was used as the criterion measure. Correlation (Pearson's r) and agreement (Bland–Altman plots) between PAST and activPAL sedentary time were examined. Results Participants were sedentary (activPAL-determined) for approximately 66% of waking hours. The correlation between PAST and activPAL sedentary time for the whole sample was r = 0.50 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.28–0.67]; and higher for non-students (r = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.26–0.84) than students (r = 0.46, 95% CI = 0.16–0.68). Bland–Altman plots revealed that the mean difference between the two measures was 19 min although limits of agreement were wide (95% limits of agreement −4.1 to 4.7 h). Discussion The PAST questionnaire provides an acceptable measure of sedentary time in this population, which included students and adults with high workplace sitting. These findings support earlier research that questionnaires employing past-day recall of sedentary time provide a viable alternative to existing sedentary behaviour questionnaires.

Product placement in US and New Zealand television soap operas : an exploratory study

Although the soap opera as a television genre has consistently captured the imagination of millions of people around the world, surprisingly little has been written about it in the marketing literature. Understanding the consumption imagery in soaps may allow marketers to assess the relevance of product placement for their promotion strategy better, as well as providing valuable insight into the consumption habits of their considerable viewing audiences. Data were collected through content analysis from two soap operas, one in the USA and one in New Zealand. The results indicated a high level of consumption imagery, including brand references. Furthermore significant differences in the types of product and the emotional outcome of product use were found between the countries.

YouTube versus the national film and sound archive: Which is the more useful resource for historians of Australian television?

This article compares YouTube and the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) as resources for television historians interested in viewing old Australian television programs. The author searched for seventeen important television programs, identified in a previous research project, to compare what was available in the two archives and how easy it was to find. The analysis focused on differences in curatorial practices of accessioning and cataloguing. NFSA is stronger in current affairs and older programs, while YouTube is stronger in game shows and lifestyle programs. YouTube is stronger than the NFSA on “human interest” material—births, marriages, and deaths. YouTube accessioning more strongly accords with popular histories of Australian television. Both NFSA and YouTube offer complete episodes of programs, while YouTube also offers many short clips of “moments.” YouTube has more surprising pieces of rare ephemera. YouTube cataloguing is more reliable than that of the NFSA, with fewer broken links. The YouTube metadata can be searched more intuitively. The NFSA generally provides more useful reference information about production and broadcast dates.

"SporTV" : the legacies and power of television

This chapter begins from the premise that, to date, television remains the dominant communications technology in the digital media sport environment. It argues that sports-related programming is often overlooked in favour of event coverage in the study of sports television. Analysis focuses on three areas - platform interaction, technological innovation, and content ecologies - and describes technological innovations arising from television coverage of sports, with a particular focus on online video, audience measurement, and 3D production and viewing.

Everyone’s watching it : the role of hype in television engagement through social media

Social media is playing an ever-increasing role in both viewers engagement with television and in the television industries evaluation of programming, in Australia – which is the focus of our study - and beyond. Twitter hashtags and viewer comments are increasingly incorporated into broadcasts, while Facebook fan pages provide a means of marketing upcoming shows and television personalities directly into the social media feed of millions of users. Additionally, bespoke applications such as FanGo and ZeeBox, which interact with the mainstream social networks, are increasingly being utilized by broadcasters for interactive elements of programming (c.f. Harrington, Highfield and Bruns, 2012). However, both the academic and industry study of these platforms has focused on the measure of content during the specific broadcast of the show, or a period surrounding it (e.g. 3 hours before until 3 am the next day, in the case of 2013 Nielsen SocialGuide reports). In this paper, we argue that this focus ignores a significant period for both television producers and advertisers; the lead-up to the program. If, as we argue elsewhere (Bruns, Woodford, Highfield & Prowd, forthcoming), users are persuaded to engage with content both by advertising of the Twitter hash-tag or Facebook page and by observing their network connections engaging with such content, the period before and between shows may have a significant impact on a viewers likelihood to watch a show. The significance of this period for broadcasters is clearly highlighted by the efforts they afford to advertising forthcoming shows through several channels, including television and social media, but also more widely. Biltereyst (2004, p.123) has argued that reality television generates controversy to receive media attention, and our previous small-scale work on reality shows during 2013 and 2014 supports the theory that promoting controversial behavior is likely to lead to increased viewing (Woodford & Prowd, 2014a). It remains unclear, however, to what extent this applies to other television genres. Similarly, while networks use of social media has been increasing, best practices remain unclear. Thus, by applying our telemetrics, that is social media metrics for television based on sabermetric approaches (Woodford, Prowd & Bruns, forthcoming; c.f. Woodford & Prowd, 2014b), to the period between shows, we are able to better understand the period when key viewing decisions may be made, to establish the significance of observing discussions within your network during the period between shows, and identify best practice examples of promoting a show using social media.

Connected Viewing: Selling, Streaming and Sharing Media in the Digital Era

As patterns of media use become more integrated with mobile technologies and multiple screens, a new mode of viewer engagement has emerged in the form of connected viewing, which allows for an array of new relationships between audiences and media texts in the digital space. This exciting new collection brings together twelve original essays that critically engage with the socially-networked, multi-platform, and cloud-based world of today, examining the connected viewing phenomenon across television, film, video games, and social media. The result is a wide-ranging analysis of shifting business models, policy matters, technological infrastructure, new forms of user engagement, and other key trends affecting screen media in the digital era. Connected Viewing contextualizes the dramatic transformations taking place across both media industries and national contexts, and offers students and scholars alike a diverse set of methods and perspectives for studying this critical moment in media culture.

Public knowledge beyond journalism : infotainment, satire and Australian television

This thesis examines the changing relationships between television, politics, audiences and the public sphere. Premised on the notion that mediated politics is now understood “in new ways by new voices” (Jones, 2005: 4), and appropriating what McNair (2003) calls a “chaos theory” of journalism sociology, this thesis explores how two different contemporary Australian political television programs (Sunrise and The Chaser’s War on Everything) are viewed, understood, and used by audiences. In analysing these programs from textual, industry and audience perspectives, this thesis argues that journalism has been largely thought about in overly simplistic binary terms which have failed to reflect the reality of audiences’ news consumption patterns. The findings of this thesis suggest that both ‘soft’ infotainment (Sunrise) and ‘frivolous’ satire (The Chaser’s War on Everything) are used by audiences in intricate ways as sources of political information, and thus these TV programs (and those like them) should be seen as legitimate and valuable forms of public knowledge production. It therefore might be more worthwhile for scholars to think about, research and teach journalism in the plural: as a series of complementary or antagonistic journalisms, rather than as a single coherent entity.

Comparing international television news : the case of violence presentation in Germany, Great Britain and Russia -- [in German : Gewalt in internationalen Fernsehnachrichten - eine komparative Analyse medialer Gewaltpräsentation in Deutschland, Großbritannien und Russland]

This is an important book that ought to launch a debate about how we research our understanding of the world, it is an innovative intervention in a vital public issue, and it is an elegant and scholarly hard look at what is actually happening. Jean Seaton, Prof of Media History, U of Westminster, UK & Official Historian of the BBC -- Summary: This book investigates the question of how comparative studies of international TV news (here: on violence presentation) can best be conceptualized in a way that allows for crossnational, comparative conclusions on an empirically validated basis. This book shows that such a conceptualization is necessary in order to overcome existing restrictions in the comparability of international analysis on violence presentation. Investigated examples include the most watched news bulletins in Great Britain (10o'clock news on the BBC), Germany (Tagesschau on ARD) and Russia (Vremja on Channel 1). This book highlights a substantial cross-national violence news flow as well as a cross-national visual violence flow (key visuals) as distinct transnational components. In addition, event-related textual analysis reveals how the historical rootedness of nations and its symbols of power are still manifested in televisual mediations of violence. In conclusion, this study lobbies for a conscientious use of comparative data/analysis both in journalism research and practice in order to understand what it may convey in the different arenas of today’s newsmaking.