An understanding of parent's perceptions of television's influence on children's dietary intake and physical activity may provide useful information. This study involved the development of a questionnaire which assessed the viewing habits and child requests for food and sport items advertised on television. The subjects for this study were sixty-six mothers of children, ages 3-8 years, in public preschools and elementary schools. The foods that children requested because they had seen them advertised on television paralleled the frequencies with which these foods were advertised on television. The weekly viewing hours correlated significantly with the reported requests by children, purchases by parents of foods influenced by television, and the children's caloric intake. The requests by children for sporting items and physical activities were not significantly correlated with the number of hours of television viewing. It seems from these data that parents perceive that television influences family purchasing patterns by the mechanism of their children's requests. 6 tables, 19 references. (Author abstract modified)