Although the link between television viewing and obesity has been made before in relation to adolescents and adults, this is the first study that looks at the association in such young children.

Dr Barbara Dennison and colleagues, from New York’s Columbia University, looked at 2,761 adults with children aged between one and five, and investigated the link between the weight of infants and the presence or absence of a television or video in their bedrooms.

Obesity, they discovered, was more common among those with a television or video and was likely to increase with duration of viewing time.

The researchers stress the need for restricting television viewing for the under-twos and suggest that children of this age should not have a TV set in their bedroom.

Dr Dennison and her team also say that children under the age of two need to know that television-viewing time is limited.

“This study extends the association between TV viewing and risk of being overweight to younger pre-school children. A TV in the child’s bedroom is an even stronger marker of increased risk of being overweight,” say the study’s authors.

During the past 20 to 30 years the prevalence of obesity among children and adults has increased dramatically with 55 per cent of adults classified as overweight in the US.

Other recent studies have shown that the relationship between television viewing and obesity is independent of physical activity or fitness level.

A spokeswoman for the charity Weight Concern told Health Media, “Watching TV is a sedentary activity and also increases children’s exposure to advertising for high fat and high sugar diets.

“Limiting children’s TV viewing can be a more effective way of encouraging children to exercise than prescribing exercise per se.”

Source: Pediatrics
© Health Media Ltd 2002
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