Exercise portrayal in children’s television programs: analysis of the UK and Irish programming

Figures & data

Table 1 Exercise associated with each individual cue

Cue type	Overall (n=699)	RTE (n=203)	BBC (n=278)	χ ^2/t-test
Exercise
Exercise	29 (4.1%)	15 (7.4%)	10 (3.6%)	3.42 (P=0.09)
Informal	74 (10.6%)	16 (7.9%)	42 (15.1%)	5.78 (P=0.02)*
Soccer	60 (8.6%)	16 (7.9%)	29 (10.4%)	0.90 (P=0.43)
Basketball	23 (3.3%)	9 (4.4%)	6 (2.2%)	2.01 (P=0.19)
Swimming	70 (10.0%)	21 (10.3%)	31 (11.2%)	0.08 (P=0.88)
Tennis	16 (2.3%)	5 (2.5%)	4 (1.4%)	0.67 (P=0.50)
Athletics	30 (4.3%)	9 (4.4%)	15 (5.4%)	0.23 (P=0.68)
Rugby	6 (0.9%)	2 (1.0%)	0	2.75 (P=0.18)
Hurlinga	21 (3.0%)	10 (4.9%)	0	13.9 (P<0.001)**
Gaelic footballa	14 (2.0%)	8 (3.9%)	0	11.1 (P<0.001)**
Golf	8 (1.1%)	3 (1.5%)	0	4.13 (P=0.08)
Dancing	163 (23.3%)	28 (13.8%)	76 (27.3%)	12.7 (P<0.001)**
Cycling	55 (7.9%)	22 (10.8%)	18 (6.5%)	2.93 (P=0.09)
American football	6 (0.9%)	4 (2.0%)	0	5.52 (P=0.03)*
Baseball	17 (2.4%)	6 (3.0%)	6 (2.2%)	0.31 (P=0.57)
Skateboarding	22 (3.1%)	4 (2.0%)	14 (5.0%)	3.06 (P=0.09)
Archery	6 (0.9%)	4 (2.0%)	0	5.52 (P=0.03)*
Boxing	7 (1.0%)	4 (2.0%)	0	5.52 (P=0.03)*
Gymnastics	22 (3.1%)	6 (3.0%)	10 (3.6%)	0.15 (P=0.80)
Yoga	10 (1.4%)	0 (0%)	10 (3.6%)	7.45 (P=0.006)***
Other	40 (5.7%)	11 (5.4%)	7 (2.5%)	2.74 (P=0.14)
Cue duration (s)
Overall	33.1±2.5	28.1±3.5	34.7±2.5	P=0.12

Notes: The comparison undertaken is between RTE and BBC programming during the recording period where both channels depicted children-specific programming (6 am–11.30 am). Values given are frequencies (total relative %). Numeric data are expressed as mean ± SEM. The level of significance is represented as

* P<0.05,

** P<0.001, and

*** P<0.01.

a A team-based field game peculiar to Ireland and played at all age levels.

Abbreviations: RTE, Radió Teilifís Éireann; BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation; SEM, standard error of the mean.

Table 2 Comparison of type, context, and character associated with each cue

Cue characteristics	Overall (n=699)	RTE (n=203)	BBC (n=278)	χ ^2
Cue type
Visual	214 (30.8%)	42 (20.9%)	113 (40.6%)	20.8 (P<0.001)*
Verbal	169 (24.4%)	71 (35.3%)	27 (9.7%)	47.0 (P<0.001)*
Combined visual/verbal	311 (44.8%)	88 (43.8%)	138 (49.6%)	1.61 (P=0.23)
Foreground	689 (99.6%)	199 (99.0%)	278 (100%)	2.77 (P=0.18)
Cue context
Formal	58 (8.3%)	21 (10.3%)	19 (6.8%)	1.89 (P=0.18)
Team	65 (9.3%)	26 (12.8%)	15 (5.4%)	2.13 (P=0.16)
Cue intensity				0.11 (P=0.79)
Mild	365 (65.9%)	57 (44.5%)	241 (86.7%)	79.8 (P<0.001)*
Moderate	172 (31.0%)	62 (48.4%)	35 (12.6%)	61.9 (P<0.001)*
Severe	17 (3.1%)	9 (7.0%)	2 (0.7%)	13.3 (P=0.001)**
Characters
Human	349 (53.0%)	147 (80.8%)	43 (15.5%)	193 (P<0.001)*
Animated human	48 (7.3%)	18 (9.9%)	16 (5.8%)	2.75 (P=0.10)
Animated	168 (25.5%)	15 (8.2%)	145 (52.2%)	93.5 (P<0.001)*
Combination of all three above	93 (14.1%)	2 (1.1%)	74 (26.6%)	51.9 (P<0.001)*
Sex
Male	267 (40.7%)	89 (49.2%)	81 (29.1%)	18.8 (P<0.001)*
Female	88 (13.4%)	45 (24.9%)	12 (4.3%)	42.6 (P<0.001)*
Combined male/female	301 (45.9%)	47 (26.0%)	185 (66.5%)	72.2 (P<0.001)*
Major character	554 (84.5%)	155 (85.6%)	218 (78.4%)	3.75 (P=0.07)
Program “goodie” character	636 (97.2%)	172 (95.6%)	277 (99.6%)	3.10 (P=0.15)
Age
Child	149 (30.3%)	61 (36.5%)	36 (26.9%)	3.18 (P=0.08)
Teen	89 (18.1%)	30 (18.0%)	0	25.7 (P<0.001)*
Adult	157 (32.0%)	43 (25.7%)	70 (52.2%)	22.2 (P<0.001)*
Combined child/teen/adult	96 (19.6%)	33 (19.8%)	28 (20.9%)	0.06 (P=0.89)
Ethnicity
Caucasian	400 (81.8%)	140 (84.3%)	94 (70.1%)	8.70 (P=0.005)**
African	9 (1.8%)	3 (1.4%)	1 (0.7%)	0.63 (P=0.63)
Asian	9 (1.8%)	5 (3.0%)	0	4.10 (P=0.07)
Hispanic	3 (0.6%)	2 (1.2%)	1 (0.7%)	0.16 (P=0.99)
Combination of two or more of the above	68 (13.9%)	16 (9.6%)	38 (28.4%)	17.6 (P<0.001)*
Weight status
Nonoverweight	433 (86.9%)	154 (89.5%)	97 (72.4%)	15.0 (P=0.001)*
Overweight	19 (3.8%)	10 (5.8%)	5 (3.7%)	0.70 (P=0.44)
Combined nonoverweight/overweight	46 (9.2%)	8 (4.7%)	32 (23.9%)	24.5 (P<0.001)*

Notes: The comparison undertaken is between RTE and BBC programming during the recording period where both channels depicted children-specific programming (6 am–11.30 am). Values given are frequencies (total relative %). The level of significance is represented as

* P<0.001 and

** P<0.01.

Abbreviations: RTE, Radió Teilifís Éireann; BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation.

Table 3 Comparison of motivating factors and outcome associated with each cue

Cue motivations and outcomes	Overall (n=699)	RTE (n=276)	BBC (n=450)	χ ^2
Motivation
Celebratory/social	289 (30.3%)	60 (22.9%)	160 (37.7%)	37.1 (P<0.001)*
Excitement	278 (29.1%)	54 (20.6%)	157 (37%)	42.5 (P<0.001)*
Reward	32 (3.4%)	16 (6.1%)	2 (0.7%)	16.7 (P<0.001)*
Punishment	15 (1.6%)	5 (1.9%)	0	6.92 (P=0.01)**
Health	41 (4.3%)	11 (4.2%)	21 (7.6%)	0.86 (P=0.46)
Competitive	145 (15.2%)	63 (24.0%)	30 (10.8%)	30.8 (P<0.001)*
Other	66 (6.9%)	24 (9.2%)	29 (10.4%)	0.23 (P=0.66)
Unknown	89 (9.3%)	29 (11.1%)	25 (5.9%)	3.30 (P=0.08)
Positive	74.9%	62.2%	91.4%
Negative	1.9%	2.4%	0.0%
Neutral	23.2%	35.4%	6.0%
Outcome
Positive	404 (61.4%)	111 (61.3%)	168 (60.4%)	0.04 (P=0.92)
Negative	85 (12.9%)	34 (18.8%)	25 (9.0%)	9.38 (P=0.03)**
Neutral	169 (25.7%)	36 (19.9%)	85 (30.6%)	6.45 (P=0.01)**

Notes: The comparison undertaken is between RTE and BBC programming during the recording period where both channels depicted children-specific programming (6 am–11.30 am). Values given are frequencies (total relative %). The level of significance is represented as

* P<0.001 and

** P<0.05.

Abbreviations: RTE, Radió Teilifís Éireann; BBC, British Broadcasting Corporation.