Associations of American Indian Children\u27s Screen-Time Behavior With Parental Television Behavior, Parental Perceptions of Children\u27s Screen Time, and Media-Related Resources in the Home

Abstract

Introduction: American Indian children have high rates of overweight and obesity, which may be partially attributable to screen-time behavior. Young children\u27s screen-time behavior is strongly influenced by their environment and their parents\u27 behavior. We explored whether parental television watching time, parental perceptions of children\u27s screen time, and media-related resources in the home are related to scree time (ie, television, DVD/video, video game, and computer use) among Oglala Lakota youth residing on or near the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Methods: We collected baseline data from 431 child and parent/caregiver pairs who participated in Bright Start, a group-randomized, controlled, school-based obesity prevention trial to reduce excess weight gain. Controlling for demographic characteristics, we used linear regression analysis to assess associations between children\u27s screen time and parental television watching time, parental perceptions of children\u27s screen time, and availability of media-related household resources. Results: The most parsimonious model for explaining children screen time included the children\u27s sex, parental body mass index, parental television watching time, how often the child watched television after school or in the evening, parental perception that the child spent too much time playing video games, how often the parent limited the child\u27s television time, and the presence of a VCR/DVD player or video game player in the home (F7,367 = 14.67; P \u3c .001; adjusted R2 = .37). The presence of a television in the bedroom did not contribute significantly to the model. Conclusion: Changes in parental television watching time, parental influence over children\u27s screen-time behavior, and availability of media-related resources in the home could decrease screen time and may be used as a strategy for reducing overweight and obesity in American Indian children