The findings of the study revealed that food was consumed more often during television viewing than while participating in other activities. Children eat a large proportion of total daily energy while viewing television. Eating while watching television may be related to obesity.
These findings support the speculation that eating while watching television is a potential mechanism linking television viewing to obesity. These results serve to justify future experimental studies to test this hypothesis. Since the correlational results differed between the samples of two ethnically diverse groups, it is suggested that this research should be replicated in a large multiethnic sample. Interventions designed to help children change their types of foods consumed during television viewing, reduce food consumption during television viewing, or even reduce television viewing may markedly change children's dietary intake patterns. 8/10