Health Indicator Report of Physical Activity, Adolescent: Watching 3+ Hours of TV Daily
Recent studies conclude that the amount of time children spend watching television has a direct relationship to their weight. Children who viewed the most number of hours of television per day had the highest prevalence of obesity (this held true regardless of age, race/ethnicity and family income)(1). Children who were limited to one hour or less of TV per day were far less likely to be overweight. Children who watched more hours per day of TV and for longer periods of time were less likely to engage in physical activity. That lack of physical activity and the increase in unhealthy behaviors contribute to emerging health issues for our children, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, diabetes, gall bladder disease, and sleep apnea (2).
Percentage of Students Who Watch Three or More Hours of TV Daily by County, New Mexico 2013
Quartile Map of Percentage of High School Students with Three or More Hours of Screen Time by County, New Mexico, 2011
A "Quartile" map assigns areas to four groups. Each group includes the SAME NUMBER of areas. Group membership and map color are based on the rank order of area rates, from the lowest rate to the highest. The bottom 25% (bottom quartile) of areas has the lowest rates, the next 25% has the second lowest rates, the next 25% has the second highest rates and the top 25% of areas has the highest rates. Areas with the darkest color have the highest rates. Percentile maps such as this assign areas to different groups regardless of how close the rates actually are. In other words, just because two areas are in different groups doesn't necessarily mean that their rates are significantly different. For small area background information and reference maps, please visit: http://ibis.health.state.nm.us/resource/SmallAreaMethods.html
NotesRates for Chaves County, Harding County, and Union County were supressed because of inadequate response rates from those counties. The NM rate was calculated from the standard CDC YRRS dataset and is consistent with the rates found on the CDC Website. The county rates were calculated from a special New Mexico dataset that has a larger survey sample size.
Data SourceNew Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey, New Mexico Department of Health and Public Education Department.
DefinitionPercentage of students who watched three of more hours per day of TV on an average school day
NumeratorNumber of respondents who answered, "3 hours per day" or more, to the question, "On an average school day, how many hours do you watch TV?"
DenominatorNumber of respondents who answered the question, "On an average school day, how many hours do you watch TV?"
Healthy People Objective: Increase the proportion of children and adolescents who do not exceed recommended limits for screen timeU.S. Target: Not applicable, see subobjectives in this category
How Are We Doing?The percentage of youth who reported watching three or more hours of TV has declined from 2001 among both males and females, but the rate among males increased again in 2009. The rate of youth TV-watching was higher than the NM overall rate in Luna County. Several counties fared statistically better than the state, overall, including Catron, Colfax, Harding, Los Alamos, Sierra, Torrance and Union Counties.
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?Youth in New Mexico watch three or more hours of TV at roughly the same rate as youth elsewhere across the U.S. Although NM TV-watching rates were lower in recent years (2005, 2007), they have trended back to the U.S. rate in 2009.
Evidence-based PracticesThe American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that you can make a big impact in your child?s life by taking these simple steps: 1) Remove TV sets from your child's bedroom. Kids who watch television in their rooms watch an average of 4.6 more hours a week and are more likely to be overweight. 2) Limit children's total media time (with entertainment media) to no more than one to two hours per day. Studies have shown that for each additional hour children spend watching TV a day, there is a 2 percent increase in the chance that they'll be overweight. 3) Watch TV with your child and discuss the content. 4) Encourage alternative entertainment for children. Try activities that include both physical activities and pro-social involvement, such as joining school and community clubs, taking classes or being active with the family. In fact, physical activity can help control weight, lower blood pressure as well as reduce feelings of depression and anxiety (1) For more information, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/pressroom/article/decreasing-screen.htm.
Page Content Updated On 11/26/2014, Published on 12/01/2014