TV and obesity

TV, video games, and computer use are contributing to the rise of childhood obesity. Before these inventions became so popular, children used to run outside to play. Now, more often than not, our kids are content to sit on the couch with the remote (and a bag of chips).

Studies have proven that children who watch a lot of TV are more likely to be obese. A study published in Lancet in 2004 followed 1000 children born in 1972 or 1973 over the course of 26 years. Almost 50% of the individuals who consistently watched 3 or more hours of TV per day were overweight. Only 25% of the individuals who consistently watched less than 1 hour of TV were overweight. The more hours of TV a child consistently watched, the more likely that child was to be overweight.

Putting a TV in a child’s bedroom raises the risk of obesity even further. A 2002 study from Columbia University revealed that preschoolers with a TV in their bedroom were 31% more likely to be overweight than those children without a TV in their bedroom. A TV in the bedroom instantly adds about an hour of increased TV time per day. It is impossible to tell what is cause and what is effect. Does watching TV make a child overweight or does being overweight cause a child to watch a lot of TV? It is not clear.

Chubby children are often teased in school and left out when children are picking teams in gym class. They tend to have some discomfort in their knees and ankles when running. They become embarrassed that they can’t keep up with the other children and tend to turn to more sedentary activities, such as watching TV and eating. This causes more weight gain which makes the situation even worse. The overweight child starts to avoid sports altogether and further increases TV and computer time. Eventually the child becomes obese and unable to do even simple activities, such as walking.

TV causes weight gain in many different ways. Most important, children are inactive while watching TV. And the average child sees 40,000 commercials a year- mostly for high calorie and high fat foods. Companies spend so much money on these child-targeted commercials because they work! They prompt children to crave these unhealthy foods.
How many of you remember seeing commercials for fruits, vegetables, or whole grains? These healthy foods are rarely promoted on TV because they are not usually branded items and don’t turn out the same profits.

And who hasn’t experienced the mindless eating that occurs during TV viewing? We are all guilty of this from time to time. A child gets so engrossed in the program that he doesn’t realize he have eaten the entire bag of chips. During the week, children tend to consume 18% of their total daily calories while watching TV. On weekends, children consume 26% of their daily calories while watching TV.

New studies indicate that children’s resting metabolic rates are lower while watching TV than they are when sitting still, staring at a wall, without the TV on. This means that they are burning fewer calories during this time. It is not clear why this occurs, but it may be because they fidget less while watching or because they get into a trance-like state.

Read more tomorrow to learn specific strategies to prevent the TV from causing weight gain in your child.