Watching too much television leads to high blood pressure in obese children, according to a study from the University of California, San Diego.

Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer and his colleagues studied 546 children (ages four to 13) who were enrolled in weight management clinics. Children who watched two to four hours of television a day were 2.5 times more likely to have high blood pressure, and obese children who watched that amount were three times more likely to have high blood pressure compared to those who watched two hours or less daily.

The American Pediatrics Association recommends that children watch no more than two hours of television a day.

This study appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Labels: blood_pressure, health_factors, TV