Overweight kids and screen time
In Western society many children are seriously overweight. This has serious implications for later life, producing overweight adults with all the problems associated with obesity, such as increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, and other health problems.
Research in the USA suggests that reducing the time spent in front of TV or computer screens may be one answer to this problem.
A group of children from 2 primary schools in California were given a series of lessons aimed at teaching them to reduce the amount of time they spent watching TV and videos, or playing video games. A total of 18 lessons, given over a period of 6 months, encouraged the children to become ‘intelligent’ viewers and to budget their television/video watching.
At the end of 6 months the group participating in the lessons had significantly less TV viewing time than similar children who did not participate in the programme. More importantly they had much less adiposity (‘fatness’) despite there being no physical activity organised as a substitute for TV.
If you are concerned about an overweight child, assess how much time he or she spends in front of the TV or computer. Agree on a maximum number of hours a week for such activities and allow the child some freedom to choose when they use up the allocated time.
Last Reviewed: 27 February 2002
