The concern over increasing rates of obesity and associated health issues has led to calls for solutions to the potentially unhealthy influence of television and food advertising on children's diets. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between television viewing, snacks consumption, and consumption of foods advertised on television of 3rd to 6th grader elementary school children in Orchid Island in Taiwan. Research demonstrates that snacks and sugary drinks were the most commonly consumed items among elementary school children. More than 80% of children ate 1 or more snacks, and 20% of children ate 2 or more snacks per day. Approximately 80% of children spend at least one hour a day watching television, and 50% of children watch television more than two hours each day. About 60% of children were attracted to humor and delicious in television snack advertising. Student's snacking behaviors were significantly associated with the time to watching TV (P<0.05). Compared to children who reported spending less than two hour watching TV daily, children spending 2 or more hours watching TV per day were significant higher consumption of snack foods and sugary drinks(P<0.05). The results suggest that there are significant relationships between television viewing and consumption of foods advertised on television with snacking behaviors (P<0.05).
The concern over increasing rates of obesity and associated health issues has led to calls for solutions to the potentially unhealthy influence of television and food advertising on children's diets. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between television viewing, snacks consumption, and consumption of foods advertised on television of 3rd to 6th grader elementary school children in Orchid Island in Taiwan. Research demonstrates that snacks and sugary drinks were the most commonly consumed items among elementary school children. More than 80% of children ate 1 or more snacks, and 20% of children ate 2 or more snacks per day. Approximately 80% of children spend at least one hour a day watching television, and 50% of children watch television more than two hours each day. About 60% of children were attracted to humor and delicious in television snack advertising. Student's snacking behaviors were significantly associated with the time to watching TV (P<0.05). Compared to children who reported spending less than two hour watching TV daily, children spending 2 or more hours watching TV per day were significant higher consumption of snack foods and sugary drinks(P<0.05). The results suggest that there are significant relationships between television viewing and consumption of foods advertised on television with snacking behaviors (P<0.05).