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(3) Eating Behaviors

Many children gwatch TV while eating and do not focus on the foodh.
The proportion of children who gskip breakfasth was higher with the gonly childh and/or those who go to bed late.

As for mealtimes, the largest proportion of children eat breakfast gin the 7:00 am rangeh (59.4%) and eat dinner gin the 6:00 pm rangeh (45.2%) (Figure 5).

With regard to eating behaviors, 19.0% of the children galways watch TV while eating and do not focus on the food,h and 61.8% gsometimesh do so. The breakdown of the sibling composition showed that the proportion of children who galwaysh do not focus on the food was higher for the gonly childh or those with gyounger sibling(s) only.h The proportion was also higher among those who watch TV for g3 hours or more.h

The proportion of children who galwaysh or gsometimesh skip breakfast was higher for the gonly childh and/or those who go to bed gafter 9:00 pm.h

In addition, the gonly childh was more likely to galwaysh or gsometimesh eat breakfast and/or dinner alone (Table 4 and Figure 6).

Figure 5 Breakfast times and dinner times of the children

Figure 5  Breakfast times and dinner times of the children
Note: The figures are based on the total number of responses to the 5th survey (total number of replies: 39,809).

Table 4 Childrenfs eating behaviors in relation to their sex and sibling composition

(Unit: %)
  Total Watch TV (incl. videos and
DVDs) while eating and do
not focus on the food
Skip breakfast Eat breakfast alone Eat dinner alone
Always Sometimes Never Always Sometimes Never Always Sometimes Never Always Sometimes Never
Total (100.0) 100.0 19.0 61.8 18.8 0.9 18.9 79.8 3.7 21.8 74.2 0.5 3.8 95.5
Sex                          
Boys (52.0) 100.0 20.1 61.6 18.0 0.9 18.7 80.2 3.5 21.9 74.3 0.4 4.0 95.4
Girls (48.0) 100.0 17.7 62.1 19.7 0.9 19.2 79.5 3.8 21.7 74.1 0.5 3.6 95.6
Sibling composition                          
Only child (19.3) 100.0 23.5 60.3 15.7 1.7 23.6 74.4 7.1 27.1 65.4 0.7 7.6 91.3
Younger
sibling(s) only
(29.6) 100.0 22.5 59.8 17.3 1.0 18.9 79.8 2.7 19.8 77.1 0.4 4.2 95.1
Elder sibling(s)
only
(42.5) 100.0 15.0 64.0 20.7 0.6 17.2 82.0 3.2 21.9 74.6 0.4 2.2 97.2
Both elder and
younger siblings
(8.5) 100.0 16.1 61.9 21.6 0.9 16.8 81.9 1.8 15.9 81.9 0.4 1.5 97.8
Notes: 1) The figures are based on the total responses to the 5th survey (total number of replies: 39,809).
  2) The total includes the number of samples with gunknownh for each item.

Figure 6 Childrenfs eating behaviors in relation to the hours spent watching TV and bedtimes

[Children who watch TV (including videos and DVDs) while eating and do not focus on the food]Figure 6  Childrenfs eating behaviors in relation to the hours spent watching TV and bedtimes
Notes: 1) The figures are based on the total number of responses to the 5th survey (total number of replies: 39,809).
  2) The proportions of children to the total concerning the hours spent watching TV and bedtimes are as follows:
Hours spent watching TV: gLess than 3 hoursh: 76.0%; g3 hours and moreh: 22.7%
Bedtimes: gBefore 9:00 pmh: 18.6%; gAfter 9:00 pmh: 75.6%

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