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Study Shows How Watching TV Triggers Excess Eating

Pretty much everyone knows that knowing when to push away from the dinner table is an essential part of losing weight. But a July 1 HealthDay News article indicates that knowing when to turn off the TV may be just as important:

Yale University researchers conducted a series of experiments to test the effects of food commercials on television.

One test found that children aged 7 to 11 who watched a half-hour cartoon that included food commercials ate 45 percent more snack food while watching the show than did children who watched the same cartoon with non-food commercials.

That increased amount of snacking would lead to a weight gain of nearly 10 pounds a year, unless it was countered by decreased intake of other foods or increased physical activity, the researchers said.

"This research shows a direct and powerful link between television food advertising and calories consumed by adults and children," the study's lead author, Jennifer Harris, said in a news release.


 

July 01, 2009

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