Obesity
The Associated Press

Clearly, too much TV.

Featured Topic | Posted 38 weeks 5 days ago

Less TV time means slimmer, healthier children

More television equals fatter kids, according to a new study by researcher Leonard Epstein. "Television viewing is related to consumption of fast food and foods and beverages that are advertised on television. Viewing cartoons with embedded food commercials can increase choice of the advertised item in pre-schoolers, and television commercials may prompt eating," he wrote.

Is TV bad for you? And if so, how can we get kids to cut back?

Read More

Ben likes: We all know that TV is bad for us... or do we?

Ronald Bailey/Reason

Critics ceaselessly point out television's alleged faults. The growing girth of the nation is blamed on it; increased violence; higher levels of teen sexual activity; and finally, we are assured, the idiot box is generally dumbing us all down. But we have plenty of reasons to doubt that bill of indictment on television. Children today are watching slightly less television per day than they were a decade ago, even as they continue to pork up. Violent crime rates have been falling in the United States for a decade; and rates often sexual activity and pregnancy have fallen dramatically since the mid-1990s. Average IQs have been soaring along with TV viewing for decades.

Read More

Joel likes: Growing up too fat

Salon interview with Dr. Susan Okie

Q: One study you wrote about even suggested that having your kid stare at a wall -- if you could get the child to do that -- would actually be better for him than watching TV. Why is that?

A: In this study, they had kids doing various sedentary things, and the kids who watched TV burned fewer calories than they did doing any other sedentary activity. Maybe it has a sedating effect on your metabolism.

There are multiple ways in which TV may contribute to obesity. There's the fact that you're not burning calories. There's the fact that children and adults tend to eat unconsciously while they're watching TV, if they have food or drink in front of them. And there's the fact that there's a lot of advertising on TV so you're constantly getting cues to go get a snack or go get a soda.

And I even read one study that said when people eat lying down they tend to feel less full, and they tend to go on eating longer. A lot of kids snack lying down while they're watching TV.

Read More

Where do you stand on this issue?

Click on the graph to cast your vote.
average
vote
your vote
  • Delicious
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Propeller
  • Reddit
  • Magnoliacom
  • Newsvine
  • Furl
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Technorati
  • Icerocket

Thoughts

Re: TV turn-off week

Submitted on March 6th, 2008 by Ben

Thanks. I added the link, but I'm ambivalent about the idea of TV turn-off week. I go back and forth. An official program seems a bit lame to me. But I've helped make fun of the idea, and as the father of a 5-year-old boy, I very much appreciate the virtue of not over-dosing on modern popular culture.

Television is quite different from when I was young. Sometimes I wish I had taken a harder line on TV from the beginning. I understand that television is often a crutch. I realize, too, that maybe we coddle our kids more than our parents coddled us. The effect is we have a great gaggle of youngsters accustomed to spending time indoors more than they're inclined to be outside, provoking wars, running down varmints and generally raising hell. Maybe that's the point?

On balance, I'd say TV turn-off week is a good idea.

TV turn-off week

Submitted on March 6th, 2008 by Anonymous

Just visited this link - what a great idea... but what will I do without The Daily Show and Colbert Report?

But seriously, as a mother of two trying to balance parenting with making filmmaking, it can be very tempting to give in to the t.v. for down time. I think the key is moderation- setting clear limits before hand & sticking to them even through the whining.

The winters really test my creativity to occupy my little guys all day indoors but we manage to keep it to about an hour of t.v./ day max. And yeah, they usually do snack, so the obesity connection makes total sense to me.

No joke.

Submitted on March 5th, 2008 by Anonymous

We need to take all the video game consoles in the United States and smash them for the good of our kids. Get rid of the violence and obesity at the same time.

Join the Debate

Start your own blog, comment on topics, and let your voice be heard. Start your free account now!

User login

login

Ads by Google