Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

The My Overweight Child blog will help you keep informed about the latest research, findings, and resources available to parents of overweight or obese kids. There are many knowledgeable people working on the increasingly dire problem of childhood obesity - and we want to give parents a place where they can check in regularly to see the latest studies and tips available to help you help your child lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

We invite you to add your comments - if you have feedback for the blog, would like some specific topics covered, or you just want to share your experience as a parent dealing with childhood obesity.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Three Family Routines Associated with Childhood Obesity

A new study has found a strong link between family routines and the onset of childhood obesity. Researchers from Ohio State University say it's the first time three specific routines were assessed together.

According to a Feb. 8 ScienceDaily article, "in a large sample of the U.S. population, the study showed that 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines."

The following three factors were associated with a lower prevalence of childhood obesity:

Eating dinner as a family
Getting an adequate amount of sleep
Limiting TV viewing time.

Researchers also pointed out, however, that the study doesn't confirm whether the actions themselves aid in preventing obesity, or if they indicate the presence of other preventative factors.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, family meals, prevention, screen_time, sleep

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

Monday, March 24, 2008

Less TV Leads to Kids' Weight Loss

Using a device that limits computer and TV time might help your child lose weight, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo in N.Y.

Dr. Leonard Epstein, a professor of pediatrics, studied 70 overweight children who watched TV and played video games at least 14 hours a week. He gave a monitoring device to half of their parents in order to gradually reduce "screen time" by 50 percent. The group with the monitors lost more weight compared to the control group.

This study appears in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Labels: computers, screen_time, TV