TELEVISION VIEWING HABITS AND TIME USE IN AUSTRALIAN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN

The overall aim in this study was to investigate time use in Australian preschool children, paying close attention to the types of television programs and videos/DVDs they watch. Ninety‐two mothers of preschool children completed five activity diaries, for three typical weekdays and two weekend days. On average, children spent around just over 1 hour per weekday watching television and 30 minutes watching videos/DVDs; on weekends they spent on average 1 hour watching television and the same amount of time watching videos/DVDs. On weekdays, children spent more time watching child informative television; on the weekend they spent more time watching child animated television programs. When not watching television, children were mainly engaged in general play or in outdoor play. Child informative television was associated positively with time spent outdoors and in general and pretend play on weekdays (and for general play also on weekend days), whereas overall television viewing was correlated negatively with reading. Our findings suggest that the content of television programs may play a critical role in the relationship between television and other daily activities.     

It’s not all about the money: media responsibility and commercial preschool television in Israel

The establishment of local television networks for preschool children since the 1990s can be conceptualized as a response to the twin dynamics of commercialization and globalization. This paper examines this response through the case of the Israeli commercial preschool channel Hop!, using media responsibility and corporate social responsibility as analytical frameworks for the network’s off-screen operations. Ethnographic research revealed three types of off-screen activities: (1) activities geared at maintaining a relationship with the public; (2) ongoing, non-publicized activities; and (3) activities responding to national emergencies, enhancing the network’s “local” image and reinforcing ties with its viewers. Together, these activities reveal the conflict between the commercial imperative for a private channel to turn a profit, and the ethical responsibilities entailed in broadcasting to children, as well as some of the advantages of local over global networks in the preschool context.     

Gender Representations on Disney Channel,Cartoon Network,and Nickelodeon Broadcasts in the United States

Children's television programming provides young viewers with characters displaying behaviors and individual traits that may promote or counter gender stereotypical expectations. The present study examined behaviors of both female and male television show characters across three networks: Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, and Nickelodeon. Content analysis within and across networks investigated whether network target audience is associated with gender representations of feminine and masculine behaviors among characters. The analyses revealed more male characters (66 per cent) regardless of network target audience gender, but few differences in terms of stereotyped behaviors when comparing female and male characters across all networks. However, male and female gender stereotypical behavior (e.g., physical aggression, rescuing another, displaying affection) differed significantly across networks. No significant differences emerged between female and male characters portrayed on the Disney Channel, although there were some differences between male and female characters on Nickelodeon and between males and females on Cartoon Network. Implications for gender socialization of children, the target audience, are discussed along with possible future directions for research.     

Persuasive techniques used in television advertisements to market foods to UK children

The aim of this study was to quantify the nature and extent of use of persuasive marketing techniques in television advertisements (adverts) to promote foods to children. Popular UK commercial television channels broadcasting children's/family viewing were recorded for 2 days (6 am-10 pm) every month in 2008 and recordings were screened for adverts. Eighteen thousand eight hundred and eighty eight adverts were for food and these were coded for peak/non-peak children's viewing time and representation of core (healthy)/non-core (unhealthy)/miscellaneous foods. The analysis assessed use of persuasive appeals, premium offers, promotional characters (brand equity and licensed characters), celebrity endorsers and website promotion in food adverts. Promotional characters, celebrity endorsers and premium offers were used more frequently to promote non-core than core foods, even on dedicated children's channels. Brand equity characters featured on a greater proportion of food adverts than licensed characters. A food brand website was promoted in a third of food adverts (websites are not covered by the statutory regulation on food advertising). This extensive analysis of television adverts demonstrated that the use of persuasive marketing techniques to promote unhealthy foods was extensive in broadcasting popular with children despite regulations. Further studies should incorporate an analysis of the content of websites promoted during food adverts.     

托幼机构儿童健康体检状况分析及对策研究

目的 了解重庆北碚区托幼机构儿童健康体检状况并提出改善措施,以保障在园儿童的身体健康。方法 对北碚区5个街道所有托幼机构儿童2012-2014年健康体检结果进行体检分析。结果 北碚区托幼机构儿童身高、体重达标率达98.93%以上;消瘦、低体重和生长迟缓率分别为0.83%、0.68、0.95%,且呈逐年下降的趋势;肥胖、龋齿及视力不良发生率分别由2012年的5.15%、31.67%、24.03%上升到2014年的6.04%、57.72%、29.33%;私立托幼机构儿童的低体重率、发育迟缓发生率、龋齿患病率、贫血患病率均高于公立托幼机构的儿童,差异有统计学意义。公立托幼机构儿童的肥胖率和超重率明显高于私立托幼机构的儿童,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01);男童的肥胖率及超重率高于女童,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.01);女童的龋齿患病率、视力不良发生率及营养性贫血发生率高于男童,差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05)。结论 北碚区托幼机构儿童健康体检状况良好,但超重及肥胖、龋齿、视力不良情况不容乐观。故今后北碚区托幼机构健康管理的重点为五官保健,妇幼保健机构应加强对私立托幼机构卫生保健工作的督导力度。     

Food advertising on Australian television: the extent of children's exposure

The objective of this study was to investigate the extent and nature of food advertising during Australian children's television (TV) viewing hours and programs, and to determine whether confectionery and fast food restaurant advertisements were more likely to be broadcast during children's programs than during adults' programs on Sydney television stations. One week (390 h) of Australian advertising data broadcast during children's TV viewing hours over 15 television stations were analysed to determine the proportion of food advertisements and, in turn, the proportion of those advertisements promoting foods high in fat and/or sugar. One week (346 h) of confectionery and fast food restaurant advertisements broadcast over three Sydney television stations were analysed to determine whether these types of advertisements were more likely to be advertised during children's programs than adults' programs. Half of all food advertisements promoted foods high in fat and/or sugar. 'Confectionery' and 'fast food restaurants' were the most advertised food categories during children's TV viewing hours. Confectionery advertisements were three times as likely, and fast food restaurant advertisements twice as likely, to be broadcast during children's programs than adults' programs. It can be concluded that foods most advertised during children's viewing hours are not those foods that contribute to a healthy diet for children. Confectionery and fast food restaurant advertising appears to target children. Australian children need protection from the targeted promotion of unhealthy foods on television, but currently little exists.     

Evaluation of the quality of early childhood classrooms in Turkey

The purpose of this study was to examine the quality of two types of Turkish early childhood education programs: private and public preschools. ¹ 1. The term preschool is used to address the educational settings visited, which are preparatory classes starting one year before primary schools. Three public and three private preschools in a district of Istanbul were randomly selected. The quality of preschools was assessed using the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale developed by Harms et al. The preschools were visited by the researcher and were observed for a nine‐hour school day. Observations indicate that activities such as daily routines, parent–teacher interactions, personal and professional needs are more appropriately handled by private preschool teachers than public preschool teachers. Shortcomings exist in both types of preschools in their physical class arrangements, authoritarian teacher child interactions, poor teacher–student ratio, and emphasis on structured and paper–pencil activities. Results suggest the need for Turkish preschool programs to be more child and family centered.     

“We’ve got to get rid of her”: representation of older adults on the preschool television show Grandpa in My Pocket

ABSTRACT

Studies of television programs and films targeting children at elementary school age systematically reveal a vast spectrum of sexist and ageist stereotypes regarding older women and men, presenting children with distorted sociocultural perceptions that perpetuate the social marginalization and devaluation of older adults. Little is known, however, regarding prevailing stereotypes associated with older women and men in television programs targeting younger children, especially preschoolers. To fill this gap, the present study examined the salient gendered and ageist stereotypes embedded in the storylines of the well known Cbeebies television show “Grandpa in My Pocket”. By applying qualitative content analysis to 28 episodes of the show’s five seasons, we aimed at answering the following questions: What images of older men and women does this show convey to young children; and what models of social interaction the older adults maintain with other characters. Our findings show that this program actually misses its opportunity to present preschoolers with more positive images of older adults, and especially of older women, who are pictured as weird, bizarre, mean, socially isolated and devaluated. Moreover, the older women are systematically subjected to various forms of “comic violence”, including humiliation, intimidation and physical harm.     

Biological monitoring of lead exposure in high risk groups in Berat, Albania

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To determine blood lead concentrations in children living in an area with a battery plant in Berat, Albania. Another aim was to determine blood lead concentrations in mothers and cord blood levels in neonates from Berat and compare them with values found in Tirana. DESIGN: Cross sectional survey with a 10% random sample of children, and a 10% sample of mothers and newborn. SETTING: Hospitals, schools, and kinder-gartens in Berat and Tirana, Albania PARTICIPANTS: 129 preschool children, 373 school children, 151 mothers and their newborn. MAIN RESULTS: The mean observed blood lead concentrations in 84 preschool children living less than 2 km from the battery plant was 43.4 micrograms/dl (SD 23.0) and significantly higher than in 45 preschool children (mean 15.0 micrograms/dl, SD 3.5) living more than 2 km from the plant. Mean lead concentrations in 145 school children living close to the plant were 26.6 micrograms/dl (SD 14.4) compared with 16.0 micrograms/dl in 228 school children living at a greater distance. In 67% of the preschool children and 41% of the school children lead levels exceeded the WHO borderline level of 20 micrograms/dl, and 98% of preschool children, and 82% of school children had values greater than 10 micrograms/dl. Mean lead concentrations in cord blood of 151 newborn was 8.9 micrograms/dl (median 8.8, range 4.9-20.0 micrograms/dl), and 10.6 micrograms/dl in blood of their mothers (median 10.0, range 5.0-25.4 micrograms/dl). Mean lead concentrations in Tirana were 8.9 (newborn), and 7.0 micrograms/dl (mothers). CONCLUSIONS: Blood lead concentrations in children from Berat are comparatively high and abatement measures are needed.

 

     

Health and nutrient content claims in food advertisements on Hispanic and mainstream prime-time television

ObjectiveCharacterize frequency and type of health and nutrient content claims in prime-time weeknight Spanish- and English-language television advertisements from programs shown in 2003 with a high viewership by women aged 18 to 35 years.DesignComparative content analysis design was used to analyze 95 hours of Spanish-language and 72 hours of English-language television programs (netting 269 and 543 food ads, respectively).Main Outcome MeasuresA content analysis instrument was used to gather information on explicit health and nutrient content claims: nutrition information only; diet-disease; structure-function; processed food health outcome; good for one's health; health care provider endorsement.AnalysisChi-square statistics detected statistically significant differences between the groups.ResultsCompared to English-language television, Spanish-language television aired significantly more food advertisements containing nutrition information and health, processed food/health, and good for one's health claims. Samples did not differ in the rate of diet/disease, structure/function, or health care provider endorsement claims.Conclusions and ImplicationsFindings indicate that Spanish-language television advertisements provide viewers with significantly more nutrition information than English-language network advertisements. Potential links between the deteriorating health status of Hispanics acculturating into US mainstream culture and their exposure to the less nutrition-based messaging found in English-language television should be explored.     

Children,television, and gender roles: Messages and impact

This review examines images relating to gender roles on television and the possible impact of these images. Numerous content analyses point to one basic finding: on television, women are underrepresented and the images of both men and women tend to be stereotypical and traditional, despite a number of programs with characterizations that present a more liberated view of gender roles. Studies examining the impact of these images have focused upon four specific areas: the perception of gender-typed behaviors and occupational roles; the tendency of children to identify with specific television characters; the notion of counter-stereotypical portrayals; and the cultivation of gender-role attitudes in both adults and children.     

Is aggression in children with behavioural and emotional difficulties associated with television viewing and video game playing? A systematic review

Background Possible associations between television viewing and video game playing and children's aggression have become public health concerns. We did a systematic review of studies that examined such associations, focussing on children and young people with behavioural and emotional difficulties, who are thought to be more susceptible. Methods We did computer‐assisted searches of health and social science databases, gateways, publications from relevant organizations and for grey literature; scanned bibliographies; hand‐searched key journals; and corresponded with authors. We critically appraised all studies. Results A total of 12 studies: three experiments with children with behavioural and emotional difficulties found increased aggression after watching aggressive as opposed to low‐aggressive content television programmes, one found the opposite and two no clear effect, one found such children no more likely than controls to imitate aggressive television characters. One case–control study and one survey found that children and young people with behavioural and emotional difficulties watched more television than controls; another did not. Two studies found that children and young people with behavioural and emotional difficulties viewed more hours of aggressive television programmes than controls. One study on video game use found that young people with behavioural and emotional difficulties viewed more minutes of violence and played longer than controls. In a qualitative study children with behavioural and emotional difficulties, but not their parents, did not associate watching television with aggression. All studies had significant methodological flaws. None was based on power calculations. Conclusion This systematic review found insufficient, contradictory and methodologically flawed evidence on the association between television viewing and video game playing and aggression in children and young people with behavioural and emotional difficulties. If public health advice is to be evidence‐based, good quality research is needed.     

The Reification of Normalcy

Many researchers who investigate the putative effects of violent television on normal children claim there is a lifetime sociopathic effect on many of the children who watch. There may be. But there is a prevailing assumption that because television can produce sociopathic effects in a laboratory, that it does outside the laboratory. In addition, uncritical assumptions of psychological normalcy among most viewers are so prevalent among researchers in this field that any pathological lifetime effect may be exaggerated. The incidence of psychopathology, especially among nonrandom subject samples obtained from public schools, may be higher than investigators suspect, which could lead to overestimates of pernicious effects by television on children. Because pathological children are more vulnerable to commercial television's putative sociopathic effects than are normal children, they may bias study results toward sociopathic attitudes and behaviors, thus misleading researchers into believing that television has a greater sociopathic effect on normal populations than it actually has. Those psychopathologies are reviewed and prospective remedies are suggested for helping those children cope with the possible sociopathic effects of violently oriented television.     

Gender Differences in Depictions of Social and Physical Aggression in Children's Television Cartoons in the US

The main purpose of this study was to explore gender differences in depictions of social and physical aggression in children's television cartoons. With the knowledge that boys tend to commit physical aggression more than girls and that girls tend to perpetrate social aggression more than boys, it was expected that these gender differences in aggression type would be reflected in the cartoons. A content analysis of cartoons appearing on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Toon Disney was conducted. The findings showed that acts of physical aggression were more likely to be carried out by male characters, whereas acts of social aggression were more likely to be committed by female characters. Both the perpetrators and receivers of physical and social aggression tended to be children or teen characters, rather than adult characters. For a majority of the aggressive acts, immediate retribution or a defensive response did not result.     

The reification of normalcy

Many researchers who investigate the putative effects of violent television on normal children claim there is a lifetime sociopathic effect on many of the children who watch. There may be. But there is a prevailing assumption that because television can produce sociopathic effects in a laboratory, that it does outside the laboratory. In addition, uncritical assumptions of psychological normalcy among most viewers are so prevalent among researchers in this field that any pathological lifetime effect may be exaggerated. The incidence of psychopathology, especially among nonrandom subject samples obtained from public schools, may be higher than investigators suspect, which could lead to overestimates of pernicious effects by television on children. Because pathological children are more vulnerable to commercial television's putative sociopathic effects than are normal children, they may bias study results toward sociopathic attitudes and behaviors, thus misleading researchers into believing that television has a greater sociopathic effect on normal populations than it actually has. Those psychopathologies are reviewed and prospective remedies are suggested for helping those children cope with the possible sociopathic effects of violently oriented television.     

Frequency and Types of Foods Advertised on Saturday Morning and Weekday Afternoon English- and Spanish-Language American Television Programs

ObjectiveTo describe food advertised on networks serving children and youth, and to compare ads on English-language networks with ads on Spanish networks.DesignAnalysis of television food advertisements appearing on Saturday morning and weekday afternoons in 2005-2006. A random sample of 1,130 advertisements appearing on 12 networks catering to Spanish-language, children, youth, Black youth, and general audiences were analyzed.Main Outcome MeasuresEach advertisement was coded for the nature of the item promoted, the selling propositions used, and any nutritional claims made.AnalysisCross-tabulations using Fisher's exact test (P < .05 criterion).ResultsOne-fifth of commercials were for food. Food ads were especially prevalent on Saturday programs and children's networks. Seventy percent of food ads were for items high in sugar or fat. More than one fourth of food advertisements were for fast-food restaurants, which were especially common on MTV and Spanish-language networks. Ads for fruits and vegetables were rare (1.7%). One nutrition-related public service announcement was found for every 63 food ads.Conclusions and ImplicationsFood advertisements continue to promote less-healthful items. Until marketing of high calorie, low-nutrient food to children is restricted, education and media literacy remain the best strategies for mitigating advertising effects.     

Childhood immunization coverage by provider type.

OBJECTIVE: To determine how child characteristics and immunization coverage levels differ among children using public and private providers. METHODS: Immunization coverage rates between 1996 and 2004 were compared among children aged 19-35 months, using data from the National Immunization Survey. Coverage was based on the 4:3:1:3:3 vaccine series: four or more doses of diphtheria, tetanus toxoids, acellular pertussis vaccine; three or more doses of poliovirus vaccine; one or more doses of measles-mumps-rubella vaccine; three or more doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine; and three or more doses of hepatitis B vaccine. Coverage differences were examined by provider types (child vaccinated by private, public, or a mix of providers), and stratified by child's race/ethnicity, area of residence, and household income level. RESULTS: Between 1996 and 2004, the proportion of children seeing exclusively private providers increased (58%-61%; P < .05); the proportion seeing only public providers decreased (19%-15%; P < .01). Coverage levels increased among children seeing all provider types. Coverage levels were higher for children using private providers than those using public providers in 2004 (83% vs 79%; P <.05). Except for White race (coverage was higher among those using private providers vs public providers), coverage levels by demographic variables did not significantly differ between children using only public or only private providers in 2004. CONCLUSIONS: Equal emphasis should be placed on the efforts of public providers and private providers to increase coverage among children of all race/ethnicity, income, and residential groups.     

Watching television: how does it influence the dietary quality of children?

The prevalence of obesity is increasing and continues to be a concern, particularly in children, where the condition may lead to chronic health problems typically seen only in adults. This has prompted researchers to look at the relationships between sedentary behaviours, such as television viewing, diet and obesity in children. Epidemiological studies have shown repeatedly that rates of obesity are associated with both increased media use and poor diet quality in children and adults. Such studies have also shown that hours of television watched are associated with an increased intake of nutrient‐poor, energy dense foods and greater overall energy intake. In children, intervention studies that have imposed reductions in television viewing time have shown that reducing the time spent watching television may decrease energy intake and improve overall diet quality. However, these studies are confounded by the use of self‐reported measures for television viewing time and dietary intake. Despite these limitations, the results are promising and more research could lead to a greater understanding of these relationships. Ultimately, clear and concise public health messages for children and their parents regarding the benefits of television time reduction would assist in the fight against obesity.     

Influence of exposure to environmental lead on serum immunoglobulin in preschool children

Serum immunoglobulin (IgG, IgM, and IgE) concentrations of 38 preschool children with blood lead levels > or = 0.48 pmol/L (10 microg/ dL) were examined and compared to 35 preschool children with blood lead levels < or = 0.48 micromol/L. No differences in serum concentrations of IgG, IgM, and IgE in the populations were observed, but IgG, IgM, and IgE of male and female children from the high blood lead level group were compared to those of controls and the results showed that IgG and IgM were significantly lower in the high blood lead level group of females than in the controls, while IgE was significantly higher in the high blood lead level group of females than in the controls (P < 0.05). No correlation between blood lead concentration and serum immunogloblins IgG and IgM was demonstrated, but a statistically significant relationship between IgE and blood lead level was found in this population. These data indicate that the effect of lead on IgG, IgM, and IgE was stronger in females than in males and lead could play a role in this process by stimulating IgE production.