Television viewing and fast food intake of American and Japanese college students

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between daily television viewing duration and weekly fast food intake of American and Japanese college students.

Design/methodology/approach

From the archival database of lifestyle study (Kobayashi, 2007), the relevant variables were chosen and reanalyzed.

Findings

In 222 Japanese participants, there were no significant differences between the infrequent (less than 60 min) and the frequent (60 min and more) television viewers regarding their weekly fast food intake. However, in 147 American participants, the frequent (60 min and more) television viewers indicated significantly larger intake of fast food per week than the infrequent (less than 60 min) television viewers.

Research limitations/implications

Due to the limited sample size, the results of this study might lack generalizability. Further research on this issue should be conducted in the future.

Practical implications

The findings suggested possible influences of television viewing upon fast food intake of American college students.

Originality/value

There were few studies that investigated the media effects on fast food intake of both American and Japanese college students. This study might be the first one.

Citation

Kobayashi, F. (2010), "Television viewing and fast food intake of American and Japanese college students", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 40 No. 2, pp. 204-208. https://doi.org/10.1108/00346651011029237