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Statewide intervention to reduce television viewing in WIC clients and staff
Donna B Johnson1, Diana Birkett, Carina Evens
1Center for Public Health Nutrition, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA. djohn@u.washington.edu
Purpose:
To evaluate a statewide campaign that was designed to reduce television viewing by clients and staff of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Television reduction is frequently recommended as a strategy for preventing pediatric overweight.
Methods:
Data were collected from a convenience sample of 10,445 clients and staff who attended clinics during a 3-week period before the intervention and 9188 clients and staff who attended clinics after the intervention. Chi-square tests were used to compare the proportion of WIC clients watching television 2 or 3 hours per day before and after the intervention. Within the context of WIC, which is a large and complex public health program, it was not possible to measure individual exposures or response rates.
Results:
At baseline, 64.2% of WIC clients reported watching 2 or less hours of television per day. After the intervention, 70.5% limited television viewing to this recommended level.
Conclusions:
It is feasible to deliver television-reduction messages in large public health programs.
