Table 2.

Parents’ attitude toward screen viewing behaviors

Parents were happy with the amount of screen viewing “Yes, I think it’s (the amount of time my child watches TV) pretty okay.” “Some days I wish [kid’s name] would sit down and watch more than he does.”

Parents’ regulation of content on the screens “I think if they watch under supervision then you are less likely to have them exposed to programming that you don’t want them to see.” “In my house we watch actually Tree House…. So ours is like video, so it’s very regulated. We don’t just arbitrarily turn on the television set.” “I tend to be very cautious about what the kids watch, while my husband tends to be like he’s still cautious, not watching something really bad, but he prefers to watch with them (kids) and explain that this is TV/…”

Parents’ guilt “I actually have absolutely no guilt about how much television my child watches. I mean I’m picky about what she watches, but the stuff that she has learned, oh my goodness.” “I have absolutely no guilt with the amount of television.”

Parents perceived no linkage between screen viewing and risk of obesity “I don’t think it’s the TV or the computers or the Nintendo games (that cause obesity).… But it’s more what they are eating and how they are eating.” “It’s not because she (the child) is watching TV.… It’s because of what she is eating. So shouldn’t the focus be more on eating than on TV?” “Preventing obesity is more than just how much TV they’re watching or how energetic they are. It’s also about their diet.”