My Overweight Child: More than Two Hours of TV Per Day Linked to Fitness Declines Among Children

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Friday, July 03, 2009

More than Two Hours of TV Per Day Linked to Fitness Declines Among Children

A new study from Australia recommends that children watch no more than two hours of television a day. ore than that amount leads to a decline in physical fitness, according to research from the University of Sydney.

Dr. Louise Hardy had 2,750 children ages 11 to 15 years old undergo physical fitness tests.
Dr. Hardy and her team also surveyed the children about how often they played computer games and watched television.
Almost 10 percent of the children spent more than six hours a day engaged in "small screen" time.
The children who spent more than two hours a day watching television were less likely to pass the physical fitness tests.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children watch no more than two hours a day -- a recommendation that Dr. Hardy said is supported by her team's research.

"As it turned out, the experts were fairly spot-on," Dr. Hardy said. "The two hours [limit] is a good benchmark.”

Labels: exercise, screen_time, television