2.1 Joey Griffin

Obesity is a major problem in the world today, but even barring all of that health stuff, nobody wants to be fat, and most people in the world, given the choice, would choose to lose a little weight. In a world so concerned with image and body weight, it is no surprise that sociologists have started to look into little ways that the normal person can use to lower his/her weight. While there has been many studies in the past on the subject of bedroom TV’s being linked to higher BMI’s in children, this is the first study specifically done to study that relationship in adults. In the article “Removing the Bedroom Television Set: A Possible Method for Decreasing Television Viewing Time in Overweight and Obese Adults” they explore this relationship, among other things, while basing their research upon the hypothesis that taking the TV out of the bedroom will result in a net decrease in total BMI and an increase in sleep time. To make sure their study was legitimate, the scientists had the study preapproved by the University of Vermont’s Committee on Human Research in the Behavioral Sciences. The experiment was then ready to begin. Subjects were required to log in with their specific ID every time they wanted to watch TV so accurate measurements could be made. Other things, such as their BMI, and total sleep time were also recorded. After 3 weeks, all the data was collected and analyzed by a team of trained scientists. The results, in summary, did not support the hypothesis. Unlike similar studies done in children which linked and increase in average BMI to a bedroom TV, no such link was found in adults. So go ahead, enjoy those bedroom TV’s guilt free!