Do your children watch TV in their rooms? If so, you could be putting your child at risk of becoming overweight, a new study finds.
According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, children who have a TV in their bedrooms gain more weight than those who don’t.
The study, which followed more than 6,000 children ages 10 to 14 over a four-year period, estimated that the “high prevalence of bedroom televisions” accounts for approximately 8.7 million kilograms – that’s more than 19 million pounds – of excess weight in US children and adolescents each year.
What can you do to help curb this potential problem? One of the obvious solutions is to get the TV out of your child’s bedroom, but here are some other options, as well, that can fill that time void AND get your kids mentally and physically stimulated:
Stop watching so much TV yourself. Limiting your own TV viewing will do wonders for your children’s habit of flipping the channels. Use that time together to do something fun as a family, like playing board games.
Find a good book. Get your child to read more, which can stimulate their imagination and increase their vocabulary. Even better: Get your child to read to you and spend some quality time together.
Go outside. Sometimes a little TV is okay, but when the sun is shining, there’s a whole world to explore. Take your kid outside and get them some exercise. A game of “tag,” jump rope, and hide-and-seek are easy, affordable and fun.
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