The findings of a new study have now established a link between childhood obesity and television time among kindergartners and first-graders. Kids spending an hour or more in front of their television sets were found to be 52% more likely to be overweight than their peers who spent lesser time in front of their TVs. Those spending at least an hour in fron of the TV were also 72% more likely to be obese.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the incidence of childhood obesity, which is now considered to be a nationwide epidemic, has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years.
Anyone with a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 29.0 is said to be overweight while those with a BMI greater than 30 are said to be obese. Going by this definition, more than 30% of children and adolescents were found to be obese or overweight in 2012.
Though earlier studies had warned that couch potatoes could put on a few pounds, this is the first instance of a more specific relationship between television time among first graders and childhood obesity.
The findings of this study were based on nationwide data collected from 12,650 children who started kindergarten in the fall of 2011 and were enrolled in a study run by the U.S. Department of Education. The height and weight of each of these respondents was studied to calculate their BMI and their parents were asked to elaborate about the time their kids spent in front of the telly every day.
The researchers found out that U.S. kindergartners watched an average of 3.3 hours of TV a day.
“Given overwhelming evidence connecting the amount of time TV viewing and unhealthy weight, pediatricians and parents should attempt to restrict childhood TV viewing. Given the data presented in this study, the AAP may wish to lower its recommended TV viewing allowances,” said study author Mark D. DeBoer, MD, MSc, MCR, associate professor of pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, University of Virginia.
They also tried to find out if computer usage was linked with weight gain but found no correlation between obesity and more time in front of computers.
