Obese Children Watching

Today's children make up the digital generation. They've been surrounded by computers their entire life and are not as physically active as children of past generations were. Instead of going outside and playing, they tend to hang out indoors, watching TV and playing computer and video games. the amount of time spent in sedentary activities is a strong predictor of weight gain. According to the recent studies, decreasing the amount of activity by less than four minutes each day can result in a person gaining one pound of fat in a year.

A recent study shows with no doubt the close link between viewing unhealthy food advertisements on TV and overweight children. According to many reports watching television is the most engaging activity, except sleeping, for many kids. Besides the fact watching TV is a sedentary activity, the study concluded that the consequence of averaging 22 hours of viewing a week is high exposure of children to any kind of commercials.

Many children prefer to play computer games or watch TV for long hours these days. All these are sedentary activities that can trigger obesity among children. Some children may not be able to cope with emotional problems at home and they tend to overeat to get relief from stress. These psychological factors can also contribute to childhood obesity.

Children today spend the better part of their waking lives watching television. Its been estimated that between the ages of two and seventeen American children spend an average of three years of their waking lives watching TV and that doesnt even include time spent watching videos, playing video games, or using the computer. Thats the equivalent of more than fifteen thousand hours in front of the set (about a thousand hours a year) as compared with twelve thousand hours spent in a classroom. The end result? A total of twenty-seven thousand hours more than six years of their young lives without a whole heck of a lot of movement.

Causes of Obesity:

There are numerous causes for childhood obesity. The main cause is eating more calories than the body burns through physical activity. Child obesity is often a result of nutritional, psychological, physiological, and family factors. It is commonly known that many obese children have obese parents. This may be due to genetic reasons but most times it is a result of the parenting lifestyles.

Once youve turned off the TV, youll be amazed at the amount of time you have together and the creative ways youll find to spend that time. Remember, though, that the most important thing you can do is to serve as a role model. Research has shown that parents inactivity may exert more influence on their childrens behavior than being active does. So, if your children see you sitting in front of the TV during all your free time if they never see you exercising or enjoying yourself as you do something physical your actions (in this case inactions) will speak volumes. Theyll simply follow suit. Even if you tell them how important it is to be physically active, theyll have no reason to believe you. So turn off the TV and turn on to physical activity! Both you and your children will be glad you did.