Just saying no to television does not mean that your child will use that lost time to exercise, according to a new study from Harvard Medical School.
Researchers led by Elsie Taveras had over10,000 children ages 10 to 15 years fill out annual questionnaires about their television viewing during the four year study. Girls averaged about ten hours a week of TV; boys averaged about fourteen. However, if a child started to watch less television, he or she did not necessarily spend more time in physical activity.
"Television viewing and physical activities are separate constructs and not functional opposites," Taveras concluded. "Simply restricting viewing may not be effective in increasing physical activity."
This study appears in the February 2007 issue of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Labels: exercise, research