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May 8th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda MONDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) — Kids who spend lots of time in
front of the TV have poorer diets overall, a new study of U.S. middle
school students finds.
The research doesn’t prove that TV watching has anything to do with
what kids eat, and other factors — such as parenting style — could be
more important than time spent with “American Idol” or “SpongeBob
SquarePants.”
Still, “the more TV you watch, the less likely you were to eat fruits
and vegetables every day, and the more likely you were to eat things like
candy and soda, eat at a fast food restaurant and even skip breakfast,”
said study author Leah Lipsky, a staff scientist with the Eunice Kennedy
Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Previous
research has linked more TV watching to obesity in kids, she said, perhaps
because the children are less active and snack more.
But study co-author Ronald Iannotti, also a staff scientist at the
institute, said the issue is complicated. In some cases, for example, boys
who are more active tend to watch more TV.
“There’s some evidence that TV may be its [own] unique risk factor. It
could be because your metabolic rate is so low that it’s just worse than
doing anything else,” Iannotti said.
Seeking to better understand how TV watching affects diet, the
researchers examined data from a 2009-2010 survey of more than 12,600 U.S.
youngsters in grades 5-10, average age 13. The findings appear in the May
issue of the Archives of Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine.
The study found that those who watched the most TV were slightly more
likely to eat candy and fast food and skip breakfast, even when
researchers adjusted their statistics so they wouldn’t be thrown off by
factors such as computer use and physical activity.
Also, eating habits appeared to deteriorate according to age, gender
and race. Unhealthy eating habits were more common among older students
than younger ones and more prevalent among boys and black or Hispanic
students compared to girls and white students.
“In some cases, the effect is very small. On the other hand, these
effects can be huge when you think of even a slight increase in food
intake affecting 200,000 sixth graders,” Iannotti said.
A positive note was that those who snacked the most while watching TV
also ate more fruit (in addition to more candy, soda and fast food).
So, is TV at fault? The researchers acknowledged that other factors
could play a role, such as parents who allow both TV watching and poor
diets. The study authors didn’t take household rules into account.
The authors said that future research should try to tease out the
independent contributions of food advertising, TV time and TV snacking to
food consumption among children. If it turns out that a cause-and-effect
relationship does exist, attempts should be made to limit viewing or
improve the nutritional content of foods advertised on TV, they said.
Frederick Zimmerman, chair of the health services department at the
Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los
Angeles, said the study is well-conducted, but “a little behind the
current research curve” with regard to food advertising’s effects on
health and eating behavior.
“Other research has shown that physical activity tends to make us crave
those inputs that are healthiest for us, whether in the realm of food or
entertainment,” Zimmerman said. “Regular daily physical activity —
especially outdoors — is what we’re designed for and the natural and
enjoyable state of human beings. If we can enjoy regular physical
activity, we can let go of some of the anxiety on TV and diet, because
we’ll naturally want what’s healthy for us.”
More information
For more on obesity in children, visit the U.S. National Library of
Medicine.
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