Does watching TV cause childhood obesity?
So what’s the relationship between TV watching and obesity? It’s not always clear. Although TV watching has been strongly correlated with obesity, it doesn’t necessarily mean that TV per se causes obesity. Research suggests that TV watching can be a risk factor for childhood obesity, largely because TV can substitute for other activities. However, another study (Grund et al. 2001) that confirmed the connection between TV and fat suggested that, in fact, reduced activity could not fully explain the higher rates of obesity. Rather, this study linked socioeconomic status to both TV watching and obesity–in other words, both TV watching and obesity may be independent factors that are connected by a third factor such as income, parental education and knowledge of nutrition, availability of parental supervision for activity, etc. What we do know, though, is that whatever the reason, more TV adds up to poorer health outcomes and higher body fat levels for both kids and adults. So grab the rem
