Get kids off the couch to keep weight in check
By Dipali Pathak
Parents should turn off the TV and computer as often as possible and engage their children in other activities to avoid problems with weight, says Jason Mendoza, M.D., assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine.
That's because children who exceed guidelines on watching too much television are more likely to be overweight and have more body fat, according to a Baylor College of Medicine-led study published recently in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.
Two-hour limit
"It's important for preschoolers to watch less than two hours of television each day, and what they are watching should ideally have an educational aspect," said Mendoza, who is also a researcher at the USDA/ARS Children's Nutrition Research Center.
The study shows that while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children ages 2 and over limit media time to two hours or less per day, nearly 31 percent of U.S. preschool children exceed this limit. The cross-sectional study was conducted using nationally representative data on children aged 2 to 5 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1999-2002.
The study also reports that pre-school children who use a computer are likely to have more body fat than those who do not.
Good habits last a lifetime
Mendoza, the principal investigator of the study, said these findings have broad public health implications given the current epidemic of childhood obesity.
According to Mendoza, research has shown that children start to develop life-long habits for nutrition and physical activity at a young age. If they are healthier at a young age, they are more likely to keep these habits and have an easier time leading a healthy life as they get older. It is difficult to change habits once they are ingrained, he said.
Other investigators on the study are Drs. Dimitri Christakis and Fred Zimmerman of the University of Washington. The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program. The CNRC is a joint program of BCM and Texas Children's Hospital.
The study can be accessed online at http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/4/1/44.
