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From The Times
September 14, 2005

Obesity link to childhood TV
Television viewing habits in childhood are more strongly linked to weight gain than diet or exercise, according to a study.

It found that children who watched more television than their peers were more likely to become overweight and remain so as adults.

Robert Hancox, of the University of Otago, New Zealand, who led the study, said: “We believe that watching television is an important contributing factor to the current epidemic of childhood obesity.”

The study, published yesterday in the International Journal of Obesity, recorded the viewing habits of 1,037 children born between April 1972 and March 1973.

The habits were compared with each child’s body mass index, used as the standard measure of a healthy weight. For every age group, there was an association between the amount of television watched and obesity.

Those who were obese aged 26 were more likely to have watched a lot of television when they were younger. The link appeared to be greater among girls than boys.

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