Children and teens spending more time in front of the idiot box gain weight as they grow older, a latest Canadian study states.
Health experts recommend a maximum of two-hour TV time for children. The researchers analyzed data from a long-term study of kids, aged between 9 and 16. These children completed biannual surveys about their height, weight, and how much time they spent watching TV and DVDs and playing computer and video games.
The researchers compared the two surveys and found that with every increase of one hour in daily screen time an increase of 0.1 in the body mass index (BMI) was seen. This means that each hour spent watching TV could make children gain an extra half pound of weight.
"We don't pay attention to the fact that it's half an hour here, half an hour there, an hour here, an hour there," Mark Tremblay, director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in Ottawa, Canada, told Reuters Health. He was not involved in the study.
The researchers also pointed out the differences in weight gain among boys and girls while watching TV and DVDs. Compared to boys, girls gained weight easily after watching DVD and TV. For boys playing games and texting involves some form of activity whereas girls seem to be more sedentary while watching TV.
Also small breaks between the programmes make children go grab a snack, which adds to weight gain.
