Inactivity and risk of overweight

Article Outline

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There has been a dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in childhood. There are multiple reasons for this but one is decreased physical activity. In The Journal this month, two articles highlight this relationship. Davison et al report that TV watching is associated with increased BMI over time. This was true even for children who started at normal weight. This is probably due to the fact that time watching television is sedentary time with reduced energy expenditure. Dencker et al used accelerometers to measure physical activity. They found that children who were less active were more likely to be overweight. In his editorial, Washington emphasizes that current AAP and CDC guidelines should be followed for children. These guidelines include no more than 2 hours of television watching per day and 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily.