Television viewing, computer game play and book reading during meals are predictors of meal skipping in a cross-sectional sample of 12-, 14- and 16-year-olds.

Objective: To examine whether television viewing, computer game playing or book reading during meals predicts meal skipping with the aim of watching television, playing computer games or reading books (media meal skipping).

Design: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a standardized self-administered questionnaire. Analyses were controlled for age, gender and BMI.

Setting: Data were obtained from a random sample of adolescents in Flanders, Belgium.

Subjects: Seven hundred and ten participants aged 12, 14 and 16 years.

Results: Of the participants, 11.8 % skipped meals to watch television, 10.5 % skipped meals to play computer games and 8.2 % skipped meals to read books. Compared with those who did not use these media during meals, the risk of skipping meals in order to watch television was significantly higher for those children who watched television during meals (2.9 times higher in those who watched television during at least one meal a day). The risk of skipping meals for computer game playing was 9.5 times higher in those who played computer games weekly or more while eating, and the risk of meal skipping in order to read books was 22.9 times higher in those who read books during meals less than weekly. The more meals the respondents ate with the entire family, the less likely they were to skip meals to watch television.

Conclusions: The use of media during meals predicts meal skipping for using that same medium. Family meals appear to be inversely related to meal skipping for television viewing.