- Children who watch more than three hours of television
a day are 50 per cent more likely to be obese than kids who watch fewer
than two hours, according to new Canadian research to be published Thursday
in the International Journal of Obesity.
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- The national study, funded by the Canadian Population
Health Initiative, shows that even low-key activities such as dance and
art are good protective measures against obesity.
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- "Increased physical activity is good and even low-activity
forms of leisure such as art may help by reducing behaviours that lead
to overweight and obesity," says Mark Tremblay, professor of Kinesiology
at the University of Saskatchewan and the study's lead author.
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- The study also found unorganized physical activity more
protective than organized sport because it tended to be more frequent,
undertaken for longer amount of time and goes further toward developing
a lifelong appreciation of physical activity.
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- A child's habit of going to the park everyday after school
or shooting hoops in the driveway, it might perpetuate into other physical
activity throughout life, more so than going to a structured swimming lesson
once a week for one hour, Mr. Tremblay said.
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- "We know that our health is influenced by physical,
social, and environmental factors," he said, adding that "we
need to better understand these risk factors, and take action to stop the
epidemic of obesity in this country."
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- In Canada, the number of obese children has more than
tripled in the past 15 years, the study's authors say.
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- "It's a huge problem and it's going to be difficult
to overcome," Mr. Tremblay told globeandmail.com.
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- The study of 7,216 Canadian children between the ages
of seven and 11 also found that children raised by only one parent were
up to 40 per cent more likely to be overweight.
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- Mr. Tremblay speculated that many one-parent families
have smaller household incomes and greater time constraints which means
they might be less able to offer healthier meals and food choices at home
or afford to put their children in swimming or hockey lessons.
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- "You might be more inclined to use television or
some multimedia technology in the home as a babysitter," Mr. Tremblay
said.
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- Children from high-income families were 24 per cent to
40 per cent less likely to be overweight or obese, the study found.
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- "While we had suspected that family structure and
physical activity were associated with the risk of becoming overweight
or obese, this study confirms it," Carmen Connolly, director of the
Canadian Population Health Initiative, said in a news release.
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- "It also presents, for the first time, specific
measures of the impact of sedentary lifestyles. This is significant to
parents in making decisions for their own kids, and to policy makers who
are looking at strategies to fight obesity."
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- The study is part of the Canadian Population Health Initiative's
ongoing research on obesity in Canadian children.
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- The CPHI is part of the Canadian Institute for Health
Information (CPHI), an independent, national organization mandated by Canada's
health ministers to improve the health of both Canadians and the health
system by providing reliable information.
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Reserved.
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