OBJECTIVE: To determine if an intervention for preschool-aged children in primary care is effective in reducing screen time, meals in front of the television, and BMI. METHODS: A randomized controlled trial was conducted at a primary care pediatric group practice in Toronto, Canada. Three-year-old children and their parents were randomly assigned to receive a short behavioral counseling intervention on strategies to decrease screen time. The primary outcome 1 year later was parent reported screen time. Secondary outcomes included television in the child's bedroom, number of meals in front of the television, and BMI. RESULTS: In the intention-to-treat analysis at 1 year, there were no significant differences in mean total weekday minutes of screen time (60, interquartile range (IQR) 35 to 120 versus 65, IQR 35 to 120; p = 0.68) or mean total weekend day minutes of screen time (80, IQR 45 to 130 versus 90, IQR 60 to 120; p = 0.33) between the intervention and control group. Adjusting for baseline BMI, there was a reduction in the number of weekday meals in front of the television (1.6 +/- 1.0 versus 1.9 +/- 1.2; p = 0.03) but no differences in BMI or number of televisions in the bedroom. CONCLUSIONS: This pragmatic trial was not effective in reducing screen time or BMI but was effective in reducing meals in front of the screen. Short interventions focused solely on reducing screen time implemented in the primary care practice setting may not be effective in this age group.
Reproduced with permission from Pediatrics. Copyright by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

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