Childhood Obesity and Screen Time

screen timeTurn off your TVA couple of studies recently published confirm what we’ve suspected. Screen time and obesity are positively correlated. And the news gets worse. A study out of Canada found that children from disadvantaged neighborhoods were 3-4 times more likely to fall into these high-risk groups. Another study, this one out of SUNY Buffalo, found that kids whose screen time was reduced lost weight. According to a report in Bloomberg,

Children whose viewing was eventually cut in half ate less, spent less time on sedentary activities and developed a healthier body mass index, a ratio of height to weight. The reduction in screen time didn’t translate into additional physical activity, providing insight into how sitting in front of a television or computer contributes to obesity in children, the researchers said.

Caveat Emptor: The Bloomberg article linked above is an advertisement dressed up as news. The article spends as much space pitching a $100 electronic device called the TV Allowance as it does reporting consumer information. This blurring of PR/Advertising and Journalism is almost as frightening as a 5th grade classroom full of 200 pound screen junkies!

Oprah’s Big Give

Oprah's Big GiveThere’s a new feel-good reality TV show in town. Imagine a cross between The Apprentice, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, and The Amazing Race and you’ve pretty much got The Big Give. The similarities with the other reality TV shows are both an admission that certain formulas work, and the fact that the executive producer of TBG is also the executive producer of TAR. The Emmy-winning Bertram von Munster got his start with the long-time reality TV show COPS, but made his mark with the four-time-Emmy-winning Amazing Race. I had a chance to meet von Munster at the BEA/NAB conference a few years ago and was impressed with his producing skills. He has figured out how to create drama without stooping to the contrived interpersonal conflicts so common to the reality TV genre.

Oprah’s Big Give takes individuals who have a track record of service and gives them a chance to change the lives of complete strangers by organizing and coordinating giving campaigns to address their unique situations. Contestants are judged on Creativity, Leadership, Presentation, and the size of their “Give.” Like most reality TV shows, someone loses and is sent packing. In the words of Oprah, “You either give big, or you go home.”

The charity recipients are hard-luck cases that will pull your emotional heart-strings. If you’re at all the sentimental type, you may need a box of tissues when they announce the “gifts” that have been donated. If you like the “reveal” segment of EM:HE, you’ll love this show.

Oscar is turning 80

oscar.jpgSunday night will be the 80th anniversary of the little annual party known as the Academy Awards. The Academy is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences…quite a mouthful…which is why people refer to the show as “The Oscars.” So who is Oscar? Oscar is the name of the 13.5-inch, 8.5 pound statuette that is given to each awardee. According to the AMPAS website the statuette, “depicts a knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers and Technicians.” Approximately 6,000 Hollywood professionals make up the Academy and vote for the nominees.

This year’s host is Jon Stewart of The Daily Show fame. Incidentally, Stewart’s show won four Oscars in the Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series category since 1999.

The program is sure to have a little something for everyone…including a couple of consumer-generated spots for Dove. And yes, all of you wannabe judges get to vote for the winning spot via text or online.

Speaking of voting, how about trying to predict the winners? Just download and print this ballot. The only thing more fun that sitting on your couch filling out a ballot as you await the start of the show would be sitting in one of the seats in the Kodak theater in Hollywood, keeping it warm while one of the celebrities visits the “powder room.” A couple of hundred “seat-fillers” perform this very valuable function every year…to avoid the embarrassment of empty seats when the cameras shoot the audience. Ah, the vanity of Hollywood!

TV returns to “normal”

With the WGA strike over (at an approximate cost of $2.5 Billion), the TV biz can get back to “bizness.” Here’s a rundown of shows and announced return of new epidsodes:

Saturday Night Live – February 23
Supernatural – April 24
How I Met Your Mother – March 17
Two and a Half Men – March 17
My Name Is Earl – April 3
CSI – April 3
The Office – April 10
ER – April 10
30 Rock – April 10
Scrubs – April 10
Law and Order – April 23
Lost – Five pre-strike episodes already “in the can.” More new episodes to air in late April
House – April or May
Grey’s Anatomy – April or May
Desperate Housewives – April or May
Ugly Betty – April or May
24 – January 2009

Until then, there’s always American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, and other reality TV hits! WOOT!

Genna Davis on women on TV

davis_prez.jpgGenna Davis, the fictional first woman president of the US, is mad and she’s not going to take it any more. To the point, she’s upset about the portrayal of women on TV. Research conducted by Dr. Stacy Smith of USC’s Annenberg School for Communication, on behalf of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, found that the ratio of male to female characters in films (G, PG, PG-13, and R) is 2.71 to one. In addition–even in G-rated films–female characters were often hypersexualized and shown with unrealistic bodies in alluring apparel. Animated female characters were even more likely to demonstrate these attributes than live-action characters.

Content analysis studies such as this one are often the starting point for further research intended to explore the link between media and public health issues such as low self-esteem and distorted body image.  While the existence of unrealistic media portrayals of gender, race, age, etc. are not sufficient for cause-and-effect hypotheses, recognition that the media fun-house mirror provides a distorted view of reality is an important first step.

More information can be found at the Geena Davis Institute website.

Super Superbowl

This year’s superbowl may be the most super of them all when Nielsen tallies the numbers. The playoff games have had huge audiences, and the fact that the Pats are on a roll to a record season helps. All the spots were sold long ago at a record $2.5-3 million per. Pundits say we should expect more women-oriented spots because of the proximity to V-day. That’s no surprise as the SuperBowl has become a truly family affair and has seen its female audience grow over the years. Hopefully there will be something worth talking about around the cooler on Monday.

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