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Thursday, May 22, 2003The Stanford pediatrician has proved that limiting TV viewing to no more than two hours per day decreases weight gain for entire elementary school classes. Television watching is linked to adult obesity, too. So is sitting in front of a computer blogging. And then, there's this survey of teenage eating and exercising habits over the past twenty years: Researcher Lisa Sutherland of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill analyzed federal data on the diet, weight and physical activity of teens, ages 12 to 19. From 1980 to 2000, calories eaten rose 1 percent and obesity rose 10 percent, while physical activity dropped 13 percent. ... The study said that teenagers ate an average of 2,290 calories a day over the 20 years. It also said that while 42 percent of teens reported doing at least 30 minutes of physical activity on a typical day at the start of the study, only 29 percent did at the end. The study was funded by a grant from soft drink manufacturers, but that's no reason to sniff at the results. Especially if you're going to sniff at them this way: “We are pretty sure they are eating too much, no matter what the data say,” said Dr. Nancy Krebs of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, who chairs the pediatricians’ group’s committee on nutrition. “There is quite a consensus that it is due to a combination of factors.” Who needs data when you have consensus? Besides, the data doesn’t fit the current agenda: Accepting the conclusion that food is not a big part of the problem could take pressure off food companies to cut the calories they feed the nation, Hattner said. “There is enough clamor throughout the country that we are getting corporations to change,” Hattner said. “We need to continue that clamor.” But without exercise obesity will continue to rise regardless of what’s being eaten. (Unless the intake is at starvation levels.) As my partner likes to point out, a cow can get fat eating nothing but grass. posted by Sydney on 5/22/2003 08:06:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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