Parental Sedentary Restriction, Maternal Parenting Style, and Television Viewing Among 10- to 11-Year-Olds

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether parenting styles or practices were associated with children's television (TV) viewing. METHODS: A total of 431 parent-child dyads (10- to 11-year-old children) from Bristol, United Kingdom, were included. Child and parent TV viewing were self-reported and categorized as 4 hours/day. Children reported maternal parenting style (authoritarian, authoritative, or permissive). Child-reported maternal and paternal sedentary restriction scores were combined to create a family-level restriction score. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine whether child TV viewing was predicted by parenting style or family restriction. RESULTS: A greater proportion of children with permissive mothers watched >4 hours of TV per day, compared with children with authoritarian or authoritative mothers (P = .033). A greater proportion of children for whom both parents demonstrated high restriction watched <2 hours of TV per day (P < .001). The risk of watching 2 to 4 hours (vs 4 hours (vs 4 hours of TV per day was 5.2 times higher for children with permissive (versus authoritative) mothers (P = .010). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians need to talk directly with parents about the need to place limitations on children's screen time and to encourage both parents to reinforce restriction messages.