It may not be the chips that make a couch potato, nor even the couch. It may be the box in the corner of the room. New Zealand scientists reported on Tuesday that children who watch more television are more likely to become obese.
Bob Hancox and Richie Poulton of the University of Otago reported in the International Journal of Obesity that sitting down to watch The Simpsons, Big Brother and soap operas did more for body mass index -- the measure of corpulence -- than merely doing nothing or eating the wrong food. They followed up to more than 1,000 people born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in the tax year 1972-73, volunteers in a famous "longitudinal study" which has systematically monitored every aspect of their lives.
The babies were weighed at birth, and then at the ages of three, five, seven, nine, 11, 13 and 15. Their socio-economic status was assessed, their health checked, their diet explored. The families were also quizzed on their television-watching habits.
"After taking a range of other factors into account, our research showed that time spent watching television is a significant predictor of body mass index and being overweight," Hancox said.
"While there are a number of factors involved in childhood obesity, the strength of the association we found with TV viewing was greater than that commonly found for the effects of nutritional intake and physical activity. Clearly further work is needed to unravel all the critical factors and how they interact," he said.
Researchers worldwide have become alarmed about an international epidemic of obesity. Television could be just one factor in a huge challenge to the health of nations. But the Otago team warns that if the television set is significant, things are likely to get worse.
Three decades ago New Zealand had only two channels. Now, satellite, home video and the Internet mean children can find something to watch 24 hours a day.
"Significantly reducing the amount of television children watch would be an important first step in attempts to tackle the epidemic of childhood obesity," Hancox said.
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