Sure, everyone instinctively knows that watching hours of TV most likely isn’t too healthy for you.  But exactly how bad is it? Well, there’s some interesting research, for both kids and adults, that may stir up some interesting family discussions — hopefully not over a TV dinner. Read on…

This week’s New York Times discusses a just-published research paper in the Archives of Internal Medicine which monitored two groups of adults, one whose TV was shut off after a certain amount of hours, and a second group free to watch anything. They found that the restricted TV group burned off slightly more calories per day (119) while the unregulated group actually gained a bit more (95). That may not seem like a lot, but it adds up. Here’s a good quote:

…The additional activity that resulted from less television time is the equivalent of walking about eight miles a week…Dr. Otten says the main lesson for adults is that reducing your television viewing time will result in a meaningful increase in activity even if you’re not using the time for strenuous exercise.

“Compared to watching television, you burn more calories reading, writing, doing desk work — pretty much any activity other than sleeping,” Dr. Otten said. “The main finding is that if you turn off the TV, you may burn more calories without really thinking too much about it.”

TV in A Child’s Bedroom: Not A Good Idea…

Last year, The Times again reviewed TV, this time regarding TV in a child’s room. (Should Children Have Television in Their Bedrooms? – New York Times.) There’s a surprising amount of data that indeed it is not a good idea to let your child have a TV. Different studies have found increased obesity; rates of smoking later in life;  lower test scores; and sleeping problems. It’s provocative reading…