Video Games Blamed For Obesity

A study released in the March issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, says that children who put on excess weight before age five are more than twice as likely to become overweight adults. The reason? Video games!

The survey consisted of 390 US children born between 1965 and 1971 who were followed from childhood to adulthood.

Another report, also in the March issue, reported that approximately 11 percent of US children and teens were overweight (during the study period 1988 to 1994), with an additional 14 percent noted as "marginally overweight." The reason, according to the report, is the sedentary lifestyle today's kids and teens live, where TV and video games replace exercise on a daily basis.