Center on Media and Child Health

Can Reading Help Kids Lose Weight?

We know that reading offers a wide variety of benefits, but is encouraging weight loss one of them? According to a new study by Duke University researchers, the answer might be yes--when you're reading the right kind of book.

Healthy Lifestyles, Duke's six-month childhood obesity program, gave 31 of its 81 participants a book called Lake Rescue to read. The book is one of B*Tween Production's Beacon Street Girls series, which the New York Times reports was shaped by experts in adolescent development and created as "antidote to the diet of sex and consumerism served up in so much young-adult literature."

This volume tells the story of an overweight girl who gains confidence and an appreciation for fitness on a camping trip. Participants who read Lake Rescue showed an average 0.71 decrease in body mass index scores. The other participants, however, some of whom were given a non-weight-related Beacon Street Girls book and some of whom were not given a book, showed an average increase of 0.05.

To Regulate or to Self-Police?

Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission published a new report on food marketing to children and adolescents. According to the FTC website, "the report calls for all food companies 'to adopt and adhere to meaningful, nutrition-based standards for marketing their products to children under 12.' "

Meanwhile, the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, a coalition of 14 major food companies, published a report in which they promised either to stop advertising to children or to promote only "better-for-you products" to children. Today's New York Times chronicles the tension over whether to increase government regulation of such advertising or to allow the food industry to regulate itself.

The reports were released amidst growing concerns over the increase in childhood overweight and the research that points toward food marketing as a potential factor.

The (Heavy) World According to "Wall-E"

Wall-E has made a big splash among movie-goers this summer, but this futuristic robot love story is not just sweet and enjoyable. It's also full of social commentary about an issue that's very much in the public eye: the relationship between food advertising, television viewing, and overweight.

The Times Union on Monday noted the link between Wall-E's portrayal of future humans as "fat blobs...with television screens mounted 12 inches from their heads" and the U.S.'s current epidemic of overweight. In the article, CMCH Director Michael Rich is quoted as saying, "This is the direction things could go in if we continue this way."

Even if the future doesn't look quite like that, however, there is plenty of research linking overweight with the very issues that Wall-E highlights: A 2005 study found that children's exposure to ads for sweet/fatty foods is associated with overweight, and another study found that such exposure is increasing. As Dr. Rich points out, though, the problem isn't watching one commercial--it's constant exposure over the course of years that changes our attitudes toward food. And whether you've seen Wall-E or not, that sort of change, and the risks associated with it, definitely warrants attention.

Do Crime Rates Influence Sedentary Behavior?

In the last 30 years, technological changes have made staying inside more appealing to kids than ever before.  With TV, video games, computers and other media inside, kids aren't always interested in playing outside, or encouraged to do so.  One reason parents may actually want to keep their kids inside is because neighborhoods are less safe for kids to play in.

A new study by Brown et al investigates whether an area's crime rate influences the sedentary behavior of the children who live there. After studying a population of 4th graders in Texas, they found that:

• Boys were more likely to play video games in communities where robbery rates are high and sexual offenders are common
• Girls were more likely to watch TV in communities where sexual offenders are common, but they were less likely to use computers

The authors point out that given the link they found between crime rates and some kinds of media, and that using these media is sedentary in nature, then crime rates may be indirectly influencing obesity.

Take This Game and Run With It

Back in April we told you about an "active-adventure" video game in development by students at Carnegie Mellon.  The Pittsburgh News interviewed the creators and got to see the game in action! 

Players run on a pad when they want their character to run on-screen; jump when they want the character to jump; and step forward and swing their arm when they want the character to punch. The creators are hoping that this game offers a full-body action experience to combat the sedentary nature of most video games.  See video of game play

"Active-Adventure" Video Game in Development

The following was written by Garth DeAngelis, a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center.  To learn more about this project, see the team's blog. 

In the past 20 years, the percentage of overweight adolescents in the United States has more than doubled --  nearly 30% of American children today are considered obese or overweight. There are numerous reasons for this disturbing fact, but our team is striving to address one of them: the sedentary nature of video games.

There is an unfortunate correlation between the increase in child obesity and the popularity of video games. In 1999, the average child played video games for 29 minutes a day. According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), that number has more than doubled to approximately 63 minutes per day in 2007.  What can be done about this?

Since the 1980s, products have been released that merged movement and gaming such as Nintendo’s Power Pad (see original commercial) and Dance Dance Revolution (see DDR champs in action).   However, there has never been an “exergame” that combined traditional elements of gaming with active “exercise-based” inputs to create an immersive story with free exploratory navigability in an open world in the vein of a Zelda or Dungeons & Dragons epic.

The success of the Nintendo Wii (see demo) led us to believe that a game could be created that would combine exercise and fantasy worlds.  After meeting with medical experts at University of Pittsburgh’s Medical Campus, they recommended designing a way to increase a child’s heart rate when playing. We immediately thought of the success of the DDR dance pad. After extensive research, we couldn’t find any other game that re-designed the dance pad to be used for a non-dancing/simulation game.

We knew we could literally place the child in a video game hero’s shoes by re-purposing the foot pad. To make our hero jump over a chasm while being chased by a menacing enemy, the player will jump in their living room; when our hero unleashes a three-step melee combo on an antagonist, the player will not only swing their arms, but move their feet in conjunction to mimic the attack of their avatar. The child will be actively engaged in a traditional action-adventure experience, but their mind will be focused in the ‘flow’ of gameplay, not on burning calories. We believe this can be done precisely with our project, The Winds of Orbis: An Active-Adventure.

Our goal is not to supplant traditional exercise or sports activities. Rather, we hope to replace the sedentary 30 to 60 minutes a day that the average child spends sitting on the couch moving only their thumbs with an experience that will encourage them to stand up, move, and sweat while playing the type of game they already love with a smile on their face.

TV Dinners

63% of homes have the television on during meals.  Research has shown a number of concerns about this practice such as:

• People eat more junk food and fewer fruits and vegetables while watching TV
• People eat more food while watching TV than while listening to music

Dr. Michael Rich, Director of CMCH, was interviewed for a podcast on this topic where he discusses what the research shows and explores options for parents.

For Teens, Media Trumps Health

In a new study in the Journal of School Nursing, researchers developed a questionnaire for middle school students to learn more about what measures they are willing to take to prevent obesity.  They found that teens are willing to exercise more and change their eating habits, but they are unwilling to give up video games or television in order to improve their health. 

McDonald's: They're Lovin It

Robinson, Borzekowski, Matheson, and Kraemer performed a study to see whether children's tastes were influenced by heavily marketed brands.  Over 60 preschool children tasted 5 pairs of identical food items.  In each pair, one item was packaged with the McDonald's logo, and one item was in unbranded packaging.  The children were asked whether the foods tasted the same or if one tasted better. 

The results of the study showed that overall, "children preferred the tastes of foods and drinks if they thought they were from McDonald’s."  Analysis of the results showed that children who  had TV sets in their houses and children who ate McDonald's food more often were more likely to say the McDonald's food tasted better than it's identical counterpart. 

The authors conclude that a food's branding influences young children's ideas of taste and that perhaps this idea could be used to encourage children eat more nutritious food.   

Shrek Hypocrisy Featured on The Colbert Report

Lovable cartoon movie-star Shrek is currently a spokesperson (spokes-ogre?) for the Department of Health and Human Services' "Go Out and Play" campaign aimed at getting kids active to prevent obesity. 

Meanwhile, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has conducted a review of other Shrek promotions and found that Shrek is also promoting over 70 different junk food products. 

This tale of hypocrisy made it all the way to The Colbert Report:

See research on food advertising from the CMCH Database of Research.