Watching TV Directly Proportional to Obese Kids, Says Study
A new study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in San Diego has claimed that watching Television for as miniscule duration as an hour can cause obesity in kids especially kindergarteners.
As per the reports by Time.com this study was conducted on a group on about 10,000 kindergarten students who were then followed up for an year. The study also took into account various psychological and educational factors wherein the parents were questioned about the height, weight and TV viewing habits of their children and the same were recorded.
A year later the same data was collected again and compared. It was then observed that children who watched more than an hour of television daily were 39% more prone to becoming over weight and were 86% more likely to become obese by the time they reached first grade.
Furthermore, this observation could be accounted to the fact that watching TV cuts down on the physical activity time for children. The study observed an average of 3.3 hours of TV viewing in the kids in US which surpassed the current maximum limit set by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Mark DeBoer, an associate professor at University of Virginia has remarked to NDTV Gadgets that keeping the above in mind it was imperative for parents and pediatricians to restrict the TV viewing time for children. Moreover, the American Academy of Pediatrics has earlier recommended a two hour cap on TV viewing, however, in the light of the new evidence; it might be essential to cut down on this limit.
It is hence imperative that corrective measures are taken lest we strive for a lifestyle disease inflicted future generation. A major step in this regard should be taken by parent who should set an example by not becoming a couch potato every day after work and spending quality time with their children.