(23-12-05) How Does Increased Television Watching Weigh Into Childhood Obesity?

Obesity is one of the major health concerns among both children and adults in the U.S. today. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that children should not watch more than two hours of television a day.

However, the average child in the U.S. regularly watches between 2-3 hours of television a day. Not only are children inactive
while they are watching television, they often snack on unhealthy food choices.

Establishing unhealthy habits as a child can continue into adulthood. Two articles in the October issue of The Journal of Pediatrics describe the relationship between television watching and childhood obesity.

Because parent's television viewing habits directly influences their children's, parents must serve as role models. Parents should limit the frequency of television viewing by encouraging alternate forms of recreation and selective program choices for themselves and their
children.
The TV Turnoff Network (www.tvturnoff.org) offers additional guidance for parents and children who want to spend more time away from the television.

A longitudinal study by Kirsten K. Davison, PhD, Lori A. Francis, PhD, and Leann L. Birch, PhD, Television viewing in early childhood predicts adult body mass index by R.M. Viner M.D., Ph.D. and T.J. Cole Ph.D., and the editorial one way to decrease an obesogenic environment by Reginald Washington, MD.

The article appears in The
Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 147, Number 4 (October 2005).

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