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Kids
Who Watch More TV Eat Fewer Vegetables
The more television children watch the less fruit and vegetables
they eat, probably because the advertising they see leaves
them craving junk food instead, a study said.
Children surveyed for the study who spent more time watching
television ate 0.16 fewer servings of fruit and vegetables
for every extra hour watched. That additional hour a day
of TV watching added up to one less nutritional serving
every six days.
Heavy television viewing by children has been linked to
eating more junk food, getting less exercise and obesity,
but this was the first study to show that TV watching led
to lower consumption of nutritious fruit and vegetables,
said the report, which was published in the journal Pediatrics.
At the start of the survey in 1995, the children, who averaged
12 years of age, ate an average of 4.23 servings of fruit
and vegetables per day, which was below the government-recommended
five daily servings.
The rising epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States
and other industrialized nations has been linked to cardiovascular
disease in even young children, and to an accumulation of
health problems later in life.
American children spend more time watching television than
engaging in any other activity except sleeping, averaging
22 hours of viewing a week, the report said. They are exposed
to 20,000 TV commercials a year, or 150 to 200 hours worth.
Study author Renee Boynton-Jarrett of the Harvard School
of Public Health said most food advertising aired during
children's shows conflict with healthy eating habits.
"Little of this marketing is aimed at fruit and vegetables,"
the report said.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
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