The Association between Television Viewing and Child hood Obesity : A National Survey in Thailand
NICHARA RUANGDARAGANON, M.D.*, NITTA Y A KOTCHABHAKDI, M.D., M.S.*, UMAPORN UDOMSUBPAYAKUL,M.Sc.**, CHAIYOS KUNANUSONT, M.D., Ph.D.***, PAIBUL SURlYA WONGPAISAL, M.D.****
Affiliation : * Department of Pediatrics, **Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, ***AIDS Division, Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Public Health, Nonthaburi 11000, ****Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
Objective : To determine the relationship between television viewing and obesity among Thai children.
Design : A one-stage cross-sectional national survey.
Setting : National communities in Thailand.
Subjects : Four thousand one hundred and ninety-seven children aged 6 to 12 years old.
Results : By using the new national growth reference as a normative data, 262 (6.2%) children in this survey were obese. According to the caregivers, 62 per cent of children watched tele vision I to 3 hours per day. Children who spent more than 3 hours per day watching television were more likely to be obese than the children who watched television less with the odd ratio of 1.8 (95% = confidence interval 1.2-2.8).
Conclusion : With a one-stage design for determining the association between television viewing and childhood obesity, Thai school age children who watched television more than 3 hours per day were more likely to be obese with statistical significance.
Keywords : Television Viewing, Obesity, Children, Thailand
