Watching television by kids: How much and why?

Television (TV) viewing by children may be linked to a range of adverse health and behavioral outcomes. This study was aimed at examining the relationship between socioeconomic factors of families and TV watching behavior among 3–5 years old children in Ardakan, Yazd, Iran.

In the cross‑sectional study, mothers of 188 children (93 boys and 95 girls) between 3 and 5 years old completed a researcher‑designed questionnaire. Data were analyzed by using SPSS, using bivariate correlations and t‑test for independent samples.

The mean of TV viewing was 2.68 ± 1.6 h daily, ranging from 0 to 9 h. There were no statistically significant gender differences on the basis of daily TV watching. There were positive associations between the children’s daily TV watching and age as well as children’s daily TV watching and their mothers’ time spent on watching TV. Children who lived in houses with the yard and could use it as a playground watched less TV than did the children who lived in houses without the yard.

The results suggest that health care professionals should be aware of the association between different socioeconomic status aspects of families, such as the children’s and mothers’ time spent on watching TV and having a yard in the house in an attempt to develop effective strategies and interventions to prevent excess TV watching.