Spending more than sixteen hours per week online, not getting enough sleep, and drinking too much increase a teenaged girl's chances of gaining weight, according to a new study from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Catherine Berkey examined lifestyle factors as they pertain to a teen's gaining weight over the course of one year. Using records from over 5,000 girls ages 14 to 21 years, Berkey determined the following:
- Girls who spent long hours of recreational time on the Internet had a 57 percent risk of gaining at least four pounds a year.
- Sleeping fewer than five hours a night and drinking more than two glasses of alcohol a week was also associated with weight gain.
- Coffee drinking was not associated with weight gain.
This study appears in the Journal of Pediatrics.
Labels: factors, research, weight_gain