Call to ban TV in kids' bedrooms - ''If they end up sitting for prolonged periods then they are going to die earlier. The body is not designed to sit still for long periods, it is designed to be mobile.''
ALLOWING children to have a television in their bedroom almost triples the risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes, a conference on sedentary behaviour in Sydney will hear this week.
New US research that studied 380 children aged from five to 18 found two-thirds had a TV in their bedroom, despite recommendations against it by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A TV in the bedroom - and watching it for more than two hours a day - were associated with greater odds of increased waist circumference and elevated [artery blocking] triglyceride levels, despite exercise and limited sugary drinks.
The study, headed by Amanda Staiano, from the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre, to be published in January, concluded: ''Parental education to reduce television could protect youth against the development of obesity and an adverse cardiometabolic profile.''
The body goes into a type of ''hibernation'', like a computer in low power mode, which should be prevented by frequent breaks to move around. ''Schools are teaching skills for life and [students] should be taught to never sit down for more than half an hour,'' he said.
