Just one hour of daily TV could turn your kids into couch potatoes

Even an hour of TV could turn your tiny tots into couch potatoes, claims a new study.

The research, which analyzed data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey of 11,113 children who were in kindergarten during the 2011-2012 school year, showed that kids who spent one hour in watching television a day were more likely to be overweight or obese compared to children who watched TV for less than 60 minutes each day.

Results showed that U.S. kindergartners watched an average of 3.3 hours of TV a day. Both kindergartners and first-graders who watched one to two hours or more than two hours daily had significantly higher body mass indexes than those who watched less than 30 minutes or 30-60 minutes a day, even after adjusting for socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity and computer use.

In both kindergarten and first grade, children viewing as little as one hour of TV daily were 50-60 percent more likely to be overweight and 58 percent to 73 percent more likely to be obese compared to those watching less than an hour. Computer use, however, was not associated with higher weight.

Furthermore, children who watched one hour or more of TV daily were 39 percent more likely to become overweight and 86 percent more likely to become obese between kindergarten and first grade.

Associate professor and study author Mark D. DeBoer at University of Virginia, said that given the overwhelming evidence connecting the amount of time TV viewing and unhealthy weight, pediatricians and parents should attempt to restrict childhood TV viewing.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends limiting children and teens to less than two hours of screen time each day. Dr. DeBoer, however, said even that might be too much.

The study was presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego.