Children can’t avoid obesity by simply being active, claims a study from the University of Toronto. Many studies have found that preteens that spend more than eight hours a day watching do not experience a reduction in their obesity risk. Although “work-life balance” has received much attention, these findings imply that parents and other adults responsible for children also need to be mindful of the “exercise-screen balance” of their charges.
Minimizing screentime alone doesn’t reduce the risk of obesity
Assistant pediatrics professor at the University of California-san Francisco and lead study author Jason Nagata said that spending a lot of free time watching can replace other crucial activities such as socializing, physical activity, and sleep. However, the study found that minimal screen time alone might not offset the risk of obesity among teenagers that don’t exercise.
Nowadays, luring children away from the television, the internet, and video game consoles is not exactly simple. Kyle Ganson, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Factor-Inwentash School of Social Work at the University of Toronto and the study’s co-author, advises parents to motivate their children to exercise more via play, sports, and outdoor time.
Taking part in physical activity strengthens relationships
Ganson says participating in physical activities is important for connecting and strengthening relationships.
The researcher interviewed 5,797 preteens on how many hours they typically spend on the screen to arrive at these conclusions. A Fitbit was also used to monitor the participants’ step count. Preteens indicated they spent an average of 8 hours of recreational tv viewing per day during the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic.
It’s important to note that Prof. Nagata gathered convincing evidence in a different study, which was also published in the General Internal Medicine Journal, to support the notion that screen time in teenage years is linked to obesity, the onset of diabetes, and a larger waist circumference 24 years later. Over the course of two decades, that project evaluated 7,105 teenagers who made up a nationally representative group.
Nagata concludes that parents should discourage too much screen time and encourage it during family meals or before bedtime.
