Understanding the correlates of adolescents' TV viewing : a social ecological approach

Objective. To examine associations between social ecological factors and Dutch adolescents’ TV viewing. Design. Cross-sectional examination of predictors of adolescents’ TV viewing.

Participants. A total of 338 adolescents, aged 14 years (55% boys).

Measurements. Adolescents self-reported their age, ethnicity and TV viewing (dichotomized at two hours/day) and responded to items from all three social ecological domains; individual (cognitions based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour and TV viewing habit strength, and other behaviours, such as computer use), social (parental rules about TV viewing and parental TV viewing behavior) and physical environmental factors (TV in bedroom, physical activity equipment available). Parents reported demographic factors (e.g., ethnicity, education level), and their own TV viewing (mins/day); adolescents’ weight status (not overweight vs. overweight/obese) was calculated from objective measures of height and weight. Logistic regression analyses examined associations between socio-ecological factors and adolescents’ TV viewing, and whether associations were moderated by adolescents’ sex, parents’ education and ethnicity.

Results. Compared with others, overweight/obese adolescents (odds ratio (OR)=3.0; p≤0.001), those with high computer use (OR=2.3; p≤0.0001), with high TV viewing habit strength (OR=1.3; p≤0.0001), and those whose parents had high levels of TV viewing (OR=2.4; p≤0.01) were more likely to exceed two hours of TV viewing per day. The association with habit strength was moderated by gender, and the association with parents’ TV viewing was moderated by parents’ education and ethnicity.

Conclusions. Interventions should target parents’ TV viewing behaviors and aim to amend habitual, ‘mindless’ TV viewing among adolescents.

A study of the effectiveness of music appreciation TV programs for young children in Hong Kong

This paper provides a preliminary report of a small-scale research examining the effectiveness of a series of Music Appreciation segments of “Pre-school: Learn to Fly”—a locally designed and produced early childhood TV program in Hong Kong. Four aspects of young children’s musical development were studied: 1) musical exposure; 2) attention span; 3) response to music; and 4) musical memory. The findings enrich local understanding of early childhood music education and media, and provide more information for the production of the next series from late 2004.

The illusory everyday : narratives of pleasure in Australian 'reality TV'

This thesis examines the paradox thai the popularity of 'reality TV' lies more in its construction and the pleasure of its reception as entertainment, than ils 'reality'. Through the integration of theoretical perspectives, and industry and viewer interviews, 'reality TV' is explored as an amoebic, amorphous genre, of multiple narratives, interpretations and pleasures.

Reinforcing the myth : constructing Australian identity in 'reality TV'

The current incarnation of ‘reality TV’ in Australia has a strong focus on the portrayal of everyday life. Although based on ‘real’ situations or people, there is a clear tension between ideas of authenticity and performance.  As a global phenomenon, ‘reality’ formats are produced for local audiences by highlighting aspects of the national culture and identity, with format popularity directly linked to identification and affirmation of the spectacle of ‘reality’. This paper will analyse the use of popular Australian myth in ‘reality’ formats by charting narrative and character construction as an ‘illusory everyday’, with reference to Bondi Rescue (Cordell Jigsaw). The paper will examine the representation of Australian identity through both myth and construction in ‘reality TV’ as the perpetuation of a cultural simulation. Implications for research on the genre and the industry are also discussed.

Constructing Australia : a companion to the ABC TV series

This engaging collection tells the story of how three of Australia's greatest man made-icons were built. The making of the Harbour Bridge, the creation of the Telegraph Line across Australia and the building of the pipeline from Perth to Kalgoolie.

Alien TV channel changing SFX

A sound effect designed on a sound generator, which evokes the sound of TV channel changing on an alien TV.

Are parental concerns for child TV viewing associated with child TV viewing and the home sedentary environment?

Background
Time spent watching television affects multiple aspects of child and adolescent health. Although a diverse range of factors have been found to be associated with young people's television viewing, parents and the home environment are particularly influential. However, little is known about whether parents, particularly those who are concerned about their child's television viewing habits, translate their concern into action by providing supportive home environments (e.g. rules restricting screen-time behaviours, limited access to screen-based media). The aim of this study was to examine associations between parental concerns for child television viewing and child television viewing and the home sedentary environment.
Methods
Parents of children aged 5-6 years ('younger' children, n = 430) and 10-12 years ('older children', n = 640) reported usual duration of their child's television (TV) viewing, their concerns regarding the amount of time their child spends watching TV, and on aspects of the home environment. Regression analyses examined associations between parental concern and child TV viewing, and between parental concern and aspects of the home environment. Analyses were stratified by age group.
Results
Children of concerned parents watched more TV than those whose parents were not concerned (B = 9.63, 95% CI = 1.58-17.68, p = 0.02 and B = 15.82, 95% CI = 8.85-22.80, p < 0.01, for younger and older children respectively). Parental concern was positively associated with younger children eating dinner in front of the television, and with parental restriction of sedentary behaviours and offering sedentary activities (i.e. TV viewing or computer use) as a reward for good behaviour among older and young children. Furthermore, parents of older children who were concerned had fewer televisions in the home and a lower count of sedentary equipment in the home.
Conclusions
Children of concerned parents watched more TV than those whose parents who were not concerned. Parents appear to recognise excessive television viewing in their children and these parents appear to engage in conflicting parental approaches despite these concerns. Interventions targeting concerned parents may be an innovative way of reaching children most in need of strategies to reduce their television viewing and harnessing this parental concern may offer considerable opportunity to change the family and home environment.

Increased cardiometabolic 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 5-yr changes in self-reported television viewing time are associated with changes in continuous biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk (waist circumference, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, and a clustered cardiometabolic risk score) in Australian adults.


Methods: The Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab) is a prospective, population-based cohort study with biological, behavioral, and demographic measures collected in 1999-2000 and 2004-2005. Noninstitutionalized adults aged >=25 yr were measured at baseline (11,247; 55% of those completing an initial household interview); 6400 took part in the 5-yr follow-up biomedical examination, and 3846 met the inclusion criteria for this analysis. Multiple linear regression analysis was used, and unstandardized B coefficients (95% confidence intervals (CI)) are provided.


Results: Baseline television viewing time (10 h·wk-1 unit) was not significantly associated with change in any of the biomarkers of cardiometabolic risk. Increases in television viewing time over 5 yr (10 h·wk-1 unit) were associated with increases in waist circumference (men: 0.43 cm, 95% CI = 0.08-0.78 cm, P = 0.02; women: 0.68 cm, 95% CI = 0.30-1.05, P < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (women: 0.47 mm Hg, 95% CI = 0.02-0.92 mm Hg, P = 0.04), and the clustered cardiometabolic risk score (women: 0.03, 95% CI = 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.


Conclusions: These findings indicate that an increase in television viewing time is associated with adverse cardiometabolic biomarker changes. Further prospective studies using objective measures of several sedentary behaviors are required to confirm causality of the associations found.

TV viewing behaviour among preschoolers : implications for public health recommendations

Excessive television (TV) viewing in early childhood has been associated with adverse cognitive and behavioural outcomes.[1-3] A recent review of the literature revealed that TV viewing in the formative pre-school years has also been linked with other health concerns including sleep difficulties, increased aggression, anxiety and obesity.[4] Given that early childhood is the time in which the foundations for future behaviours and habits are established and evidence shows that TV behaviours track from early childhood to adolescence,[5] it is not surprising that there has been much interest in determining an ‘appropriate’ amount of screen time for pre-schoolers. The aim of this paper is to review current recommendations around Australian pre-school children's TV use and the implications of these guidelines when we consider current data pertaining to young children's TV viewing behaviour.