FYI - Abstract of article:

Screen Time Linked to High Blood Pressure
 in Obese Children, Study Finds

Dec 13, 2007

A study in December's American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that watching two or more hours of television daily may increase obese children's risk for high blood pressure, Reuters reports. To investigate this relationship researchers at the University of California, San Diego, studied the television viewing habits of 546 children ages 4 to 17 participating in an obesity treatment program. Forty-three percent of study participants had high blood pressure. Researchers found that obese children who watched two to four hours of television daily were 2.5 times more likely to have high blood pressure than those who watched less television, and that children who watched more than four hours of television daily were 3.3 times as likely to have high blood pressure as those who watched less than two hours. Noting that the length of daily screen time also correlated with the severity of obesity, the researchers suggest that children may be prone to consume more foods that are high in fat and sodium while watching television. They add that their findings underscore the importance of limiting screen time to less than two hours daily in accordance with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations, particularly for children who are overweight or obese (Harding, Reuters/Yahoo! News, 12/12/07; Pardee et al., American Journal of Preventive Medicine, December 2007 [subscription required]).