Factors associated with television viewing time in toddlers and preschoolers in Greece: the GENESIS study.

BACKGROUND

The aim of this work was to describe the television (TV) viewing time of preschoolers and to examine factors that may be associated with it.

METHODS

A representative sample of 2374 Greek children aged 1-5 years was examined (GENESIS study). Several anthropometric, socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics were recorded.

RESULTS

The mean value of children's TV viewing time was 1.32 h/day. Twenty six percent of participants spent > or =2 h/day in TV viewing. The percentage of children whose TV viewing time was longer than 2 h/day was higher in children aged 3-5 years (32.2%) than in those aged 1-2 years (11.1%). Multiple logistic regression revealed that the time parents spent viewing TV and the region of residence were significantly associated with child's TV viewing time among children aged 3-5 years. Among children aged 1-2 years, the maternal educational status, the region of residence and the maternal TV viewing time were found to be related to child's TV viewing time.

CONCLUSIONS

The current findings suggest that almost one third of Greek preschoolers exceed the limit of 2 h/day TV viewing and that parental TV viewing time may be the most important determinant of children's TV viewing time.