TV viewing during childhood and adult type 2 diabetes mellitus
The early life period is considered as of utmost importance for early adaptation in metabolic regulation that affects adult life. While the relationship between TV viewing and metabolic syndrome is been investigated in adolescents, no study evaluated whether watching TV during childhood can be one of the risk factors for developing T2DM in later life. Daniela Schmid and colleagues conducted a study titled “TV viewing during childhood and adult type 2 diabetes mellitus” published in the Nature Journal. The summary of this study is given below:
Objective:
To investigate whether TV viewing at ages 3 to 5 years or 5 to 10 years is associated with T2D in adulthood among women.
Method:
The data of 34,512 mother-nurse daughter dyads from the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) II and the Nurses’ Mothers’ Cohort Study were used. The questionnaire was completed by the mothers of NHS II participants on their pregnancy with the nurse and her early life experience. The follow-up was carried out from 2001 to 2013.
Finding:
A positive association was found between TV viewing and the risk of T2D later in life. This finding was independent of childhood physical activity and childhood adiposity but appears to be partially explained by adult BMI. Although the biological mechanism to support this association is unclear, sedentary behavior while watching TV, higher calorie intake with TV viewing, a distraction from habitual food intake control or satiety, and impaired sleep quality can cause alterations in biological adaptations contributing to chronic diseases in adulthood. Additionally, controlling this adult variable such as adult BMI can reduce this association. Authors acknowledge future studies to confirm this relationship and clarify the mediating pathways.
Limitation:
Investigators acknowledge the chance of unmeasured confounding or residual confounding in the findings. Additionally, there are chances of misclassification due to lack of memory as the study includes an assessment based on maternal recalls a decade later. The findings cannot be generalized.
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