New Spanish research has found that watching television appears to be the lifestyle factor most strongly associated with the risk of children being overweight or obese.
The researchers assessed five of the children's lifestyle habits, including physical activity, sleep time, television time, plant-based food consumption and ultra-processed food consumption, by asking parents to complete questionnaires on their child's habits at the age of 4. The findings, published in the journal Pediatric Obesity, showed that of the five behaviors analyzed in the study, television watching had the strongest association with overweight and obesity, with the children who were less active and spent more sedentary time in front of the television at the age of 4 more likely to be overweight, obese or have metabolic syndrome at age 7.
"Most research to date has focused on the impact of individual lifestyle behaviors rather than cumulative effects," commented Martine Vrijheid, co-leader of the study."However, it is well known that unhealthy behaviors tend to overlap and interrelate." Researcher Sílvia Fernández added that watching television"discourages physical activity and interrupts sleep time.