Study Links TV In Bedrooms To Childhood Obesity

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Researchers at Pennington Biomedical Research Center found a link between obesity and children having TV sets in their bedrooms.

The report, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine, found that children with TV sets in their bedrooms were likely to watch more TV, have more fat and a higher waist circumference than boys and girls who didn't have TVs in their bedrooms. They were also three times more likely to have elevated cardiometabolic risk and elevated triglycerides.

The Advocate reports (http://bit.ly/Ui8ux1 ) the report was based on a yearlong study of nearly 370 Baton Rouge children, ranging in ages 5 to 18.

Amanda Staiano, a postdoctoral research fellow, said a bedroom TV may create additional disruption to healthy habits in children.