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School-Based Television Viewing Reduction Intervention

An Evidence-Based Practice

This practice has been Archived and is no longer maintained.

Description

This school-based television reduction intervention was delivered in 18 sessions to 3rd and 4th graders over 6 months. The intervention promoted decreased television, videotape, and video game use and taught the students to become more selective television viewers. The intervention included a 10-day television turn-off, and suggested a 7-hour/week television budget. Newsletters were sent to parents encouraging their support of the intervention.

Goal / Mission

The goal of this promising practice was to reduce television, videotape, and video game use.

Results / Accomplishments

Compared to a similar control school, children receiving the television-reduction intervention had a statistically significant decrease in children's
reported television viewing (p<.001), video game use (p=.01). and meals eaten in front of the television (p=.01).

Compared with controls, children in the intervention group had statistically significant relative decreases in body mass index (p = .002), triceps skinfold thickness (p = .002), waist circumference (p=.001), and waist-to-hip ratio (p=.001).

About this Promising Practice

Organization(s)
Stanford University School of Medicine
Primary Contact
Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH
Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention Stanford University School of Medicine
1000 Welch Rd
Palo Alto, CA 94304
tom.robinson@stanford.edu
http://prevention.stanford.edu/
Topics
Health / Children's Health
Health / Physical Activity
Organization(s)
Stanford University School of Medicine
Source
Journal of the American Medical Association
Date of publication
10/27/1999
Date of implementation
Sep 1996
Geographic Type
Urban
Location
San Jose
For more details
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10546696
Target Audience
Children

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.