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, December 01, 2009

Are Day Care Kids Spending Too Much Time in Front of the TV?

Parents who drop their children off at day care every day may think their young ones are getting hours of playtime and stimulating activity. But according to a Nov. 28 CNN report, what the children may actually be getting is a lot of time in front of a television set:

New research published in the December issue of the journal Pediatrics found that kids in child care settings could be watching as much as 2.4 hours of television on an average day.

A study from the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute examined 168 child care programs and found that 70 percent of home-based and 36 percent of center-based programs showed television to preschool kids.

"Most parents don't know what happens at their children's preschool," said author Dr. Dimitri Christakis, who directs the Center for Child Health in Seattle, Washington. "They really want to believe that they leave their children there, it's preparing them for school, it's a stimulating, enriching environment. And I don't know that they're aware that in fact, a lot of time is spent watching TV."

Labels: daycare, television

Monday, November 09, 2009

Food Commercials Common on Children's Networks

With childhood obesity continuing to plague nations throughout the world, a wide range of causes and solutions are being explored. Recently, a team of researchers from the University of California-Davis studied the type and frequency of commercials on children’s networks.

The UCD study appeared in the November/December edition of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. A Nov. 4 press release included the following details about the research team's findings:

When compared to television for a general audience, children's networks in this study exposed young viewers to 76 percent more food commercials per hour than did the other networks, with the Saturday morning 7-10 a.m. time slot being more saturated with food commercials.
Out of 5,724 commercials recorded, 1,162 were food-related, with 91.2 percent of food promotions in English, and 8.7% in Spanish. Only 1 commercial was bilingual.
Overall, nearly 1 in 5 advertisements was for a food or nutrition-related product, with 5.2 food advertisements presented every hour.
Fast-food restaurants, sugary food, chips/crackers, and sugar-added beverages collectively accounted for more than 70 percent of food commercials.
34 percent of the commercials were for ''food on the run,'' fast-food restaurants and convenience food.

"Approximately 7.7 food commercials per hour appeared in programming on the children's networks," the release notes, "which is approximately one food commercial every 8 minutes."

Labels: advertising, commercials, television

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Excessive Screen Time Associated with Overweight among Children

Overweight children spend more time watching TV, playing video games and using computers than do children whose weight falls within the normal range, according to a new study from the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Researchers analyzed three behaviors of boys and girls ages six to 11 and ages 12 to 17 years old.
The behaviors studied were eating fruits and vegetables, spending time in front of screens, and physical exercise.
Seventy-five percent of overweight teenage boys spent two hours or more in front of screens, as did 50 percent of all overweight children ages six to 11 years old.
Among normal weight children, 69 percent spent less than two hours a day in front of TVs, video games or computers.

These findings illustrate the value of getting kids off the couch, said Mark Tremblay, an officer for Healthy Active Kids Canada.

Labels: computers, overweight children, television

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

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Junk Food Ads Common when Kids are Watching TV

Two-thirds of television food advertisements shown during the hours children watch are for junk foods, according to research presented at the European Congress on Obesity meeting. In the United States, things are even worse: 90 percent of the ads during the time period in question are for junk foods.

Bridget Kelley and her colleagues monitored television shows broadcast during the hours children are most likely to watch in Australia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and North and South America. She found that children see between 4,000 and 6,000 ads a year, with 2,000 to 4,000 for junk food.

"There is a lot of attention on unhealthy food marketing as an influence on childhood obesity and a lot of governments are reluctant to regulate," Kelley said.

The excessive consumption of junk food has been associated with many of the health consequences of childhood obesity.

Labels: advertising, causes of childhood obesity, television