Health
Children and television could equal health problems later in life
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 2, 2004
Children and adolescents who consistently watch television for two hours or more each day are at an increased risk of being overweight, to smoke and to have high cholesterol in early adulthood -- substantial risk factors for long-term health problems in later life -- concluded the authors of a long-term study published in the July 15 issue of The Lancet.
The study followed about 1,000 New Zealand children who were born in 1972 and 1973 until they reached age 26. A clear association was found between viewing television more than two hours each day and increased body mass index, increased cholesterol levels, more smoking and poor cardiovascular fitness at age 26.
The study also strengthens the case for a ban on food advertisements aimed at children, said David Ludwig, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in an accompanying editorial. "Measures to limit television viewing in childhood and to ban food advertisements aimed at children are warranted, before another generation is programmed to become obese," he wrote.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/02/hlbf0802.htm.
