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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Do you want to be healthier and slimmer? Easy. Shut off the TV. Or compromise and watch it less. TV viewing, sedentary behaviors and food commercials are all contributing to America’s spreading waistlines and increasing our risk for heart disease and diabetes. Those at greatest risk are our children. Kids today are heavier than ever before. They are getting heavier at younger ages and few are physically active every day. This may be the first generation in decades when a child’s lifespan is shorter than his parents.
Babies as young as six months are watching TV, tapping on tablets and using smartphones (http://www.abstracts2view.com/pas/view.php?nu=PAS15L1_1165.3). The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the use of TV, computers, smartphones and tablets for children under age 2, yet more than 50% of children in the study were watching TV before the age of 1. It is tempting to sit a toddler in front of the TV for a few minutes of peace, and most parents will admit to having done it. But, habitually allowing children to sit in front of a screen on a daily basis can be detrimental to their health.
Kindergarteners and first-graders who watched as little as one hour of TV a day were more likely to be overweight. A study (https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/Just-an-Hour-of-TV-a-Day-Linked-to-Unhealthy-Weight-in-Kindergartners.aspx) of over 11,100 kindergarteners showed that most kids averaged 3.3 hours of TV a day. Think about that. This is the average, meaning 50% of the children watched more than 3 hours of TV a day. The study results showed that those children who watched one or more hours of TV every day were 39% more likely to become overweight and 86% more likely to become obese between kindergarten and first grade. This evidence directly connects TV viewing and weight gain in children. Parents need to understand the importance of monitoring and restricting the amount of time kids watch TV. But, other research has shown that only 30% of pediatricians discuss media use with parents.
Almost 60% of children have a TV in their bedroom which leads to less activity, TV viewing that is not monitored, and potentially disrupted sleep patterns. A study showed (http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1838347) that children with TVs in their bedrooms were heavier than the norm for their age. The researchers speculated that bedroom TV viewing added over 19 million pounds to children’s weight in the US yearly. A study from France (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17925476) showed that having a TV in the bedroom was clearly associated with weight gain, especially for teenage boys. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no more than 2 hours of TV a day for children and teens. Based on the current research results even this might be too much.
In addition to limiting physical activity, TV bombards children with commercials. It is estimated that children watch 20,000 television commercials a year and food is heavily advertised. Preschool children cannot distinguish between TV shows and TV ads and they do not alter their attention between programs and commercials. This means they believe what they see in both and it does not take much to influence 2 to 6 year olds for a specific preference. Just like they may love Dora the Explorer, they will similarly fall in love with anything that is advertised between programming segments. If parents watch TV with children they can undo some of this advertisement influence by teaching children to evaluate commercials and by de-emphasizing the message given. This is called food literacy. It takes time and requires repeated lessons to be effective. Many times children watch TV alone because parents are busy, so this valuable learning experience is often missed.
It is a well-known fact that eating together as a family has a positive impact on a child’s health, yet many families watch TV while eating. TV viewing during meals significantly reduced the quality of the foods eaten, most importantly fruits and vegetables (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17383273). Children from families with high TV use during meals eat more pizza, salty snacks and soda, and the kids consumed almost twice as much caffeine as compared to kids with low TV use.
Bottom line: If you want healthy kids, limit TV use and turn off the TV during meals. According to William H. Deitz, pediatrician and obesity expert at Tufts University School of Medicine, “Almost anything else uses more energy than watching TV.”
© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of the nutrition counter series for Pocket Books with sales of more than 8.5 million books.
Look for:
The Diabetes Counter, 5th Ed., 2014
The Fat and Cholesterol Counter, 2014
The Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd ed., 2013
The Calorie Counter, 6th Ed., 2013
The Complete Food Counter, 4th ed., 2012
The Protein Counter, 3rd Ed., 2011
The Ultimate Carbohydrate Counter, 3rd Ed., 2010
The Healthy Wholefoods Counter, 2008
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com.
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