Avoiding TV DinnersA Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study shows that children who eat meals in front of the television spend more time watching TV -- far more time than it takes them to eat their meals. The discovery is significant because excessive TV watching has been linked to obesity. Permissive parents
Saelens studied 169 families with children in 1990, when the children were 6, and again in 1996, when they were 12. He found that TV watching had increased over time, as did the number of TVs in the home, the presence of VCRs, the frequency of eating meals while watching TV and the percentage of children with TVs in their bedrooms. By the time these children were 12 they watched about five more hours of TV each week than they did when they were 6, spending about 26 hours each week in front of the television. Children who watched more than two hours of TV a day at age 12 weighed more than children at the same age who watched less than two hours of TV a day. Saelens conducted the study by surveying the families and their children. All families lived in San Diego County, California. Height and weight of the children were also measured. "Reducing TV watching should be considered an important focus area for preventive health counseling by pediatricians," says Saelens. "Helping families reduce the frequency with which children eat meals while watching TV may be step toward lowering children's TV time and decreasing childhood obesity." 
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