Purpose: Previous research suggests that there is limited evidence to support a negative association between physical activity (PA) behaviors and television (TV) viewing time in children. The purpose of this study was to extend the research involving PA-TV viewing relationships and to explore potential moderators, including gender, ethnicity, weekday/ weekend behaviors, structured/unstructured activities, and seasonal variability.
Design: A 9-month longitudinal design, across one school year, with assessments every 3 months.
Setting: Elementary schools in the Vancouver and Richmond districts of British Columbia, Canada. Subjects. Subjects (N = 344; 47% female) were 9- to 11-year-old children who participated in a school-based PA initiative from September 2003 to June 2004.
Intervention: Not applicable.
Measures: Assessments of PA were measured using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children. TV viewing time and structured PA were measured using a self-report questionnaire.
Analysis: Basic descriptives, Pearson r bivariate correlations and moderated multiple regressions with mean centered variables.
Results: No significant interaction effects were found for any of the proposed moderators. Null bivariate correlations are supportive of findings in previous literature.
Conclusions: Our results did not find support for PA-TV viewing relations, regardless of gender, ethnicity, structured PA, and seasonal variability. PA interventions aimed at modifying sedentary behaviors, such as TV viewing, may not be warranted.