Group urges taking TVs out of children’s bedrooms

Televisions should be removed from children’s bedrooms, an expert leading an EU-funded project on childhood obesity has urged.

The ToyBox study on obesity prevention for children aged four to six also urges pre-schools to turn off the television and concentrate on fun activities.

A former member of the national taskforce on obesity, John O’Riordan, said banning television in nurseries and children’s bedrooms made sense as there was evidence linking sedentary behaviour, such as watching television, with subsequent obesity.

“Children should not be left sitting doing nothing for more than 20 minutes at a time.”

Co-ordinator of the ToyBox project, Yannis Manios from Harokopio University in Greece, called for a new approach to prevent obesity.

“We found that many countries are making clear guidelines on healthy eating and active play.”

The four-year study also called for video games to be restricted amid growing evidence that more youngsters have weight problems before they get to school.

The ToyBox survey, the first phase of an investigation into how best toresolve the problem, has found that obesity among pre-schoolers is hitting record levels.

More than one in eight children in NorthernEurope are overweight — rising to more than 25%in parts of SouthernEurope.

A major study on overweight and obesity among nine-year-olds in Ireland found that more than 25% was either overweight or obese.

The EU study involved research in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Britain.

Dr O’Riordan is secretary of the faculty of sports and exercise medicine, a joint faculty between the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

“It is not about how much physical activity children take, it is how much time they spend sitting.

“There is increasing evidence that if you are sedentary you stop using glucose properly; your insulin levels change and you begin to pile on weight.”

Dr O’Riordan said it was crucial that children were not allowed to sit around for long periods of time.

“We all have to engage in a certain amount of physical activity every day but, independent of that, a predictor of whether we are going to gain weight or develop diabetes is how much time we spend sitting and doing nothing.”

Dr O’Riordan said insulin measured in younger children who were slightly overweight had been found to be higher.

“When their blood chemistry was measured, it showed that they had a tendency towards diabetes.

“So the more active we can get young children, the better.”