- (HealthDayNews) -- Children who spend a lot of time racking
up high scores on video games are also more likely to pack on too many
pounds, says a U.S.-Swiss study.
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- It found a strong association between video game use
and obesity among school-age children. The study also found childhood obesity
was associated with television watching, father's smoking, and mother's
working outside the home.
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- "The goal of this study was to identify environmental
and behavioral factors, in particular type and duration of sedentary activities,
associated with obesity in children living in Switzerland," primary
investigator Dr. Nicolas Stettler, a pediatric nutrition specialist at
the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a prepared statement.
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- "To our knowledge, this study provides the strongest
evidence for an independent association between time spent playing electronic
games and childhood obesity. Our findings suggest that the use of electronic
games should be limited to prevent childhood obesity," Stettler said.
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- The study included 872 children in first, second, and
third grades. If found non-Swiss children living in Switzerland were about
twice as likely to be obese as Swiss children. These non-Swiss children
watched more television and got less physical activity than Swiss children.
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- Obesity was independently associated with lack of physical
activity, time spent playing video games, and time spent watching television.
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- "Evidence-based prevention of childhood obesity
requires the identification of modifiable risk factors. Because obesity
is difficult to treat once it has been established, obesity prevention
during childhood is an essential component of the efforts to combat this
global epidemic and further research on obesity prevention is necessary,"
Stettler said.
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- The study appeared in the June issue of Obesity Research.
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