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WATCHING TV WILL MAKE YOU FAT

HHS_us_health_human_services_logo_nyreblog_com_.gif TV and teens' weight


A young girl and boy in front of the TV.

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TV watching and teens' weights seem to go together. Researchers at the University of Minnesota saw indications of that in a year-long study of 153 adults and 72 teens. The researchers used devices that limited the number of hours a TV was on. Families kept track of how much TV people watched.

Teens who watched less TV wound up with better weights.

Researcher Simone French says this indicates TV could be a way for parents to help to control kids' weight:

"Especially with young kids, that's where things are happening, and parents are really the managers of the home environment and set the stage for these behaviors."

The study in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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