Replacing screen time with other sedentary behavior can improve obesity risk in children

High amounts of screen-based activity, such as TV viewing, is known to be associated with higher risk of being obese in youth. In this study, the investigators examined whether replacing screen-based behavior with the same amount of other types of behavior had different impact on obesity risk.

Since the amount of time in a day is fixed, reducing one activity will inevitably result in the increase of another activity. It was found that displacing 30 minutes per day of screen time with the same amount of other sedentary behavior (for example, sitting and talking) or health-enhancing physical activity led to a favorable outcome in children. It is possible that exposure to the screen increase the likelihood of calorie intake, thus results in a higher obesity risk.