| Obesity and TV |
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Imagine my shock to learn that obese children who watch a lot of television are more likely to have high blood pressure than obese children who do not watch as much television. Obese children who watched 2 to 4 hours of TV each day were 2.5 times more likely than their peers who watched less TV to have high blood pressure, while kids who watched more than 4 hours daily had more than triple the risk of having high blood pressure. Increased psychological stress and junk food eaten while watching TV could be factors in the relationship, according to principal investigator Dr. Jeffrey B. Schwimmer of the University of California, San Diego, told Reuters Health. Not to be too smug, but did we really need a formal study to draw that conclusion? I think a more informative study would be to interview the parents of obese children and ask what they plan to do to save their children. When I grew up we were not allowed to watch television during the daytime, unless we were home sick or the weather would not permit outdoor playing. Even then, we were not allowed to watch television until our homework was done. To me, this is just another example of the obstacles we face in eliminating obesity: empowering children to solve the problem and giving them the tools and incentives to get off the couch and into a healthy fun lifestyle. But we also need parents to get engaged, unplug the television and ensure children undertake healthy activities. I'm not a researcher, an ivy league Phd, or a medical doctor, but I know that too many children are obese and something needs to be done. We'll just add high-blood pressure to the list of maladies affecting obese children. More about this ground-breaking study here. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites         
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For the past 10 years, Dan has dedicated himself to representing public education before congress while advancing the legislative priorities of educators around the country. In this role, Dan has worked on complex education policies including the education of children with disabilities and school health policies. Combining years of public policy work with his life long focus on education, Dan is now the Executive Director of My Fitness 1st, an organization dedicated to eliminating childhood obesity. He has appeared on CNN, Fox News, in the Wall Street journal, Time Magazine, New York Times and other national and local media outlets. 
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