For some preschoolers, watching TV during meal or snack time may curb the amount of food they eat. For others, however, the opposite may be true.

In a research study, investigators from Pennsylvania State University were surprised to observe that preschool-age children, in general, ate significantly less at snack time and at lunch while watching a 22-minute cartoon than when they ate without the TV on.

This was not the case, however, for preschool-age children whose parents reported that they were accustomed to eating lunch or snacks in front of the TV. These children ate more with the TV on than did similarly aged children whose parents reported that they do not normally eat in front of the TV.

“This study,” Dr. Lori Francis told Reuters Health, “shows that TV viewing can either increase or decrease preschool children’s food intakes and suggests that when children consistently view TV during meals, TV viewing may distract children from normal fullness cues, which can lead to overeating in children as it may in adults.”

Francis, along with Dr. Leann Birch at Penn State, studied the effects of TV viewing on children’s lunch and snack intake, the results of which appear in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. A total of 24, normal weight 3- to 5-year-old children participated in the experiments in which they ate lunch or a snack with the TV on or off. The same meal was served on both the TV and non-TV viewing days: pizza, applesauce, baby carrots and milk. The afternoon snack consisted of milk, crackers and dried banana chips.

Based on parental reports of TV habits at home, the children, on average, watched 1.5 hours of TV daily and eight of the 24 children (33 percent) normally ate meals or snacks in front of the TV.

As mentioned, overall, the children ate significantly less snack and lunch on TV days compared to non-TV days. However, children who watched more TV per day or who usually ate in front of the TV at home consumed more at lunch or snack time on TV days.

“My initial hypothesis was that all children would be distracted and overeat,” Francis told Reuters Health. “It was surprising,” she admitted, “to see that in general, children ate less

Francis and her colleague think it’s best to keep the TV off during meals. “To promote self-regulation of energy intake in young children, parents and caregivers should be advised against providing opportunities for children to eat during TV viewing,” they write.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association, April 2006.