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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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Device
That Could Help Fat Kids Eat Less Lose Weight! Sitting long hours in front of the computer and television instead of performing some physical exercises, eating too much fast food yet too few vegetables and fruits seem to be part of the lifestyle for most of today’s kids. As such, kids are getting heavier. Besides, studies have also shown that childhood obesity is linked to TV advertising that encourages children to make unhealthy food choices. The extra weight on these kids has made them the possible victims of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and even cancer during the later part of their life. The parents do recognize this problem but getting their kids away from the screens is not an easy task, which could hardly be accomplished without creating a lot of conflict between them and their kids. Fortunately, a monitoring device, which cut TV and computer time in half, could help young overweight kids eat less and lose weight. According to a study published in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, parent just need to make one decision and the device would do the rest. The researchers from the University at Buffalo, the State University of New York studied 70 children aged 4 to 7 whose body mass index (BMI) was at the 75th percentile or higher for their age and gender. All of these children regularly watched TV or played computer games at least 14 hours per week at home.
The children were equally divided into 2 groups: one with time limits on the TV and computers and the other without (control group).
After a TV
monitoring device was attached to each of the
computers and TV sets of the first group of
children, their TV times were reduced by 50
percent. In order to watch TV or play on the
computer, these kids were required to enter an
access code, and Children in the control group had no time limits on TV or computer use but their parents were given tips on how to reduce their children's TV time. 2 years later, children in the control group had 5.2 hours less screen time per week, while the screen time was reduced by 17.5 hours per week for children who had time limits. BMIs in the restricted group were also lower: 30 percent of kids (in the group with time limit) went from overweight to not being overweight but only 18 percent did in the control group. As there was no difference in the amount of physical activity in either group, it appeared that restricting screen time might reduce mindless eating or eating prompted by TV commercials. The data shown in the study suggested that parents who help kids reduce their screen time might as well help them maintain a healthy body weight and prevent the development of obesity in the future.
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