Mom's TV Habits may Increase the Risk of Childhood Obesity for her Baby

Too much time spent watching television can greatly interfere with important opportunities to stay active. Yet a recent study examines how pregnant mothers who spend a great deal of time watching television can harm their future child and even increase their child's risk of obesity. 

"Reinforcing healthy media habits during pregnancy may help reduce infants' mealtime media exposure and impact long-term media habits in children," said lead author Mary Jo Messito, MD, FAAP via a press release. "Reduction of mealtime TV viewing during pregnancy could be an important component in early childhood obesity prevention programs."

For the study, researchers examined data from the Starting Early Project, a report that examines different aspects of childhood obesity programs for poor Hispanic families at Bellevue Hospital Center and NYU School of Medicine in New York. A total of 189 women were pregnant at the start of the study and followed over a three-year-period after they gave birth. During their third trimester, each one was interviewed regarding their TV habits at mealtimes. When their child turned three, the women were also interviewed again regarding the same information.

Findings showed that 71 percent of pregnant women occasionally watched TV during mealtimes, while 33 percent of the women stated that after they gave birth, they would still watch TV during feeding times.

Researchers found that pregnant women who watched TV while they were eating were five times more likely to watch TV while feeding their infant. Mothers younger than 25 who did not breastfeed exclusively were also more likely to watch TV while feeding their infant. This is not recommended as it can increase the risk of overfeeding and potentially the risk of childhood obesity.

"Few studies have identified how mealtime TV viewing habits begin in infancy, and what maternal characteristics during pregnancy and early infancy are associated with them," said Dr. Messito, project director of the Starting Early study, via the release. "Identifying specific maternal behaviors and characteristics associated with child TV viewing during meals will help early childhood obesity prevention efforts seeking to promote responsive feeding and limit TV exposure during infancy."

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More information regarding the findings can be seen via the study "Relationship Between Prenatal TV Watching During Meals and Infant TV Exposure During Feeding," which was presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) yearly meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.