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Losing screen time but not losing weight
It seems natural that if you want you child to take off some unwanted pounds you would move them away from the TV screen where he is watching cartoons or playing games. If he could just get away from the TV and sedentary mindless eating, everything would be ok. Not true.
Research now shows that it doesn’t make a bit of difference in weight to move your child away from the television. “Obesity is a complex problem that is probably not going to be solved by one particular intervention in one particular setting,” said Catherine Birken of the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute in Toronto and lead author of the Canadian study. “That doesn’t mean it can’t be solved.”
Interventions to reduce overall screen time have been largely unsuccessful. These strategies include individual and family counseling, automatic monitoring of screen time and classroom curricula.
For years parents and experts have worried about program content being heavy with sex and violence. As childhood obesity rises, there is also a concern that kids are sitting instead of playing and burning calories.
Interventions did work for small children. Cutting their screen time by four hours a week led to more healthy activity.
Other medical professionals anticipated the outcome of the study. “Food is a very rewarding event to everyone. To children, so is screen tie,” said Robert Klesges at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center when asked to comment on the findings. “So it doesn’t surprise me too much that interventions aimed at reducing two things children love struggle.”
Source: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Reuters
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What does your weekly dinner look like?
The whole family dines together at home
63%
The whole family dines together at a restaurant
1%
Parents and children eat separately
4%
Whoever is around eats together
21%
Every family member for themselves!
11%
Total votes: 5755