The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #60649

Sally C. Curtin, MA and Sandra Hofferth, PhD. Department of Family Studies, University of Maryland, 1210 Marie Mount Hall, College Park, MD 20742, 301-405-7573, curtinsc@hotmail.com

The prevalence of overweight children in the United States has become an increasing public health concern. In 1999 about 13 percent of children 6-11 years of age were classified as overweight, more than triple the percentage in 1965. Nutritional guidelines recommend that children choose a healthful assortment of food and get at least 60 minutes of activity daily. Using time diary data from the 1997 Child Development Supplement of The Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this paper will explore differences in time use among overweight and normal weight children 6-12 years of age. Of particular focus will be the differences in leisure time use. For children 6-8 years of age, those who were overweight spent about 2 more hours per week watching television than normal weight children. Overweight boys 6-8 years of age spent about 2 hours less per week engaged in sports than their normal weight counterparts. Overweight girls 6-8 spent about the same amount of time in sports each week as normal weight girls and even more time in informal play. For children 9-12 years of age, overweight boys and girls actually watched television less than their normal weight counterparts, but spent about 2 hours less both in sports and in informal play. Overweight girls 9-12 years of age also spent significantly less time in outdoor activities and doing housework than normal weight girls of the same age.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to:
• Understand differences in leisure time use between overweight and normal weight children.
• Quantify the average amount of daily leisure time that both normal and overweight children engage in active leisure activites such as playing and participating in sports.
• Realize the relative contributions of encouraging positive leisure time use (sports and playing) versus discouraging negative time use (watching television).

Keywords: Child Health Promotion, Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.