Watching television for just one hour a day is enough to increase a child's obesity risk.
That's according to a new study of 11,000 children aged between five and seven-years-old presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting, the largest international meeting focused on research in child health.
Researchers from the University of Virginia found that the average kindergarten age child in the US was spending 3.3 hours in front of the TV daily. Children who watched TV for between one and two hours a day were 47 per cent more likely to be obese and 43 per cent more likely to be overweight than the children who watched less than 60 minutes of television a day.
It is widely accepted that excess screen time takes away from active play, but this is the first study to show just how little television time it takes to make a negative impact on a child's health.
Study author Dr. Mark D. DeBoer, associate professor of pediatrics in pediatric endocrinology, is hoping the research will lead to stricter recommendations:
"Given overwhelming evidence connecting the amount of time TV viewing and unhealthy weight, paediatricians and parents should attempt to restrict childhood TV viewing,"
“We hope that the American Association of Pediatrics consider reducing its allowed TV viewing to one hour daily for young children and recommend that parents replace their children's TV viewing time with opportunities for physical activity and educational activities,” he said.
