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By Alan Mozes
NEW YORK, Mar 20 (Reuters Health) - With almost half of all American children aged 8 to 16 watching more than 2 hours of television every day, researchers report that the likelihood of obesity among adolescents--particularly among girls--increases with the number of hours they spend in front of the "boob tube."
"While they're exercising less, they are watching TV more, especially as they get older," according to Dr. Carlos J. Crespo, of the State University of New York at Buffalo. And, he said, as children's TV time increases, so does their body fat.
Crespo and his colleagues examined national health and nutrition data on more than 4,000 boys and girls. The investigators found that obesity was lowest among children who watched TV for 1 hour or less per day--and that as the hours mounted so did the numbers of children who were obese. The findings are published in the March issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.
Crespo's team also found that the children's calorie intake increased with TV watching, with this tendency being particularly marked among girls. However, the researchers also found that more boys than girls watched 2-plus hours of TV per day.
As for exercise, only about 55% of the children engaged in a physical activity five or more times per week. Black girls had the lowest activity rates.
And minorities were far more likely to watch television 3 or more hours daily. A full 65% of black children and more than half of Mexican-American kids logged such hours, compared with less than 40% of non-Hispanic white boys and girls.
Crespo told Reuters Health that while the near-doubling of the obesity rate among adolescents between the last generation and the current one reflects all American adolescents, minority children in particular lack safe places where they can engage in physical activity as an alternative to television viewing.
"One of the things we can do is open the schools in the evening hours for the entire community to use in a safe manner," he suggested.
He added that any effort to turn off the TV and turn up the sweat had to acknowledge the lack of equal incentives and access to recreational sports made available to girls.
"Participation in physical activity programs should be equal for girls and boys," Crespo said. "And finally we should require health and physical education course from K-12."
SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 2001;155:360-365.
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