TV - The Root of Obesity?

In a new study published this week in the Lancet:

The researchers found watching an average of one to two hours of TV on weeknights between the ages of five and 15 was linked to:

Higher body-mass index.
Lower cardio-respiratory fitness.
Increased smoking.
High cholesterol.

An article reporting the findings can be read here.

TV watching has become a national passtime since the fifties/sixties. That's two generations and now we have record rates of obesity. While diet and the advent of processed foods (introduced at about the same time as TV), play an important role, I suspect the lack of activity may be the most important. Now we have the internet and video games.

Add the results of this study to the role of TV in forming political public opinion and brainwashing us into a consumerist society and you have a very good reason to avoid the "boob tube" as much as you can.

What do you think? Should more effort be made to restrict the access of young impressionable children to television?

Yes i agree that tv causes obesity...but who can blame tv when its soo addicting?

here's another child obesity website-
www.mercola.com...
www.drwoolard.com...


[edit on 18-7-2004 by sheaisdumb]