According to a new study, close to 50 per cent of overweight children age six to 11 reported spending at least two hours a day in front of a TV or computer, compared to 31 per cent of their non-overweight peers. Among overweight teenage boys, 75 per cent of them spent two hours or more in front of a screen.

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OTTAWA — The biggest difference between overweight youth and their healthy-weight peers is the amount of time they spend in front of TV or computer screens, according to a new study that compares different lifestyles.

The report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) analyzed three lifestyle behaviours for girls and boys, age six to 11 and 12 to 17: fruit and vegetable consumption; time spent watching TV, playing video games and using a computer for recreational purposes (activities known collectively as "screen time"); and physical activity.

The most significant behaviour difference between overweight and non-overweight boys of all ages, and between younger female children, was screen time.

Close to 50 per cent of overweight children age six to 11 reported spending at least two hours a day in front of a TV or computer, compared to 31 per cent of their non-overweight peers. Among overweight teenage boys, 75 per cent of them spent two hours or more in front of a screen.

Mark Tremblay, chief scientific officer for the non-profit group, Healthy Active Kids Canada, said parents need to be as vigilant about screen time as they are about smoking and other unhealthy behaviours.

"They should monitor and ensure that screen-time use doesn't increase beyond two hours a day," he said in an interview.

Teenage girls were the exception to the screen-time finding in the CIHI report, released Thursday. It found the behaviour that stood out between overweight and non-overweight female adolescents was their daily intake of fruits and vegetables.

Forty per cent of normal-weight female youth reported eating fruits and vegetables five times a day or more, compared to only 27 per cent of overweight girls.

Common sense would suggest, and previous studies have shown, that physical activity, screen time and food choices are linked to children's weight. This study tried to measure the extent to which each of those behaviours differs between overweight and non-overweight youth.

It used data from the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey, which indicates that more than a quarter of Canadian children age two to 17 are either overweight or obese. Updated data on obesity rates should be coming out in early 2010 from Statistics Canada, said Tremblay, and he doesn't expect the numbers to have dipped significantly.

"I don't think there's any question we have a pandemic of obesity across the world," he said.

Tremblay, a researcher at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, said it's important to instil healthy behaviours early on in life to prevent kids from becoming overweight.

"What we do know is that it's tremendously difficult to correct after they've gotten to that stage, which reinforces the need to keep healthy kids healthy, just like you want to keep non-smoking kids not smoking," he said.

The CIHI findings illustrate the value of getting kids off the couch and doing other activities, said Tremblay. Decreasing sedentary time and increasing physical activity are not necessarily the same thing, he noted.

Working up a sweat, of course, brings many benefits, for children and adults, and should be encouraged, but decreasing screen time can simply mean doing some chores or yardwork. Even playing a board game has been shown to be better than nothing, said Tremblay.

"Get them not doing nothing," said Tremblay. People tend to go into a "hibernation mode" and are often snacking when they are in front of the TV or computer, which adds to the problem of taking in more calories than are being spent.

The CIHI report recommends that more research be done on the interrelationships between lifestyle behaviours in children, and how they may differ between age groups and sex.

The research could help form tailor-made strategies for promoting healthy behaviour in girls and boys at different stages of their lives.

http://www.canada.com/health/Overweight+youth+more+likely+watch+more+play+video+games/2082686/story.html

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HOW RUDE

I'ma  teen & not fat + like videogames, inf act only ONE friend of ine is fat & he likes videogames!

ARE YOU FAT & a TEEN?

Somebody put shoes on a ham. That's a pretty good gag!

Well im not fat but i dont go outside very much. (bad neighborhood).

I guess i got bad acne, pimples, wear overalls and is fat... oh i also write articles like these.

:)

Im talking about the guy who wrote this article, not you darth.

Incase anyone misunderstood me.

Eww look at those legs!

I'm not fat and I'm not a teenager!

Maybe they play video games because they are fat, and it isn't the other way around. I doubt they can do anything like sports or any other extra curriculum that require physical activity if they are fat. And even if they were allowed, I doubt they would want to. Video Games, like movies or music, are activities that almost anybody can do. I think it is the diet that is the problem. If you are going to eat fast food 3 times a week then that is the problem, and that is far from uncommon here in the United States. I find most gamers to be underweight, not overweight.

most of my fat friends like video games. I guess options are rather limited since sports are obviously not appealing to that demographic.

Lol. I'm built, I've got sports trophies and medals in my room, and I have a clear face, but I play tons of video games.

I was going to say something similar. Video games don't make you fat, but if you are a lazy fat person there is a good chance you play video games.

Thank god, you had me contemplating suicide!

lol j/k!