Monday, August 10, 2009

Screen Time Boosts Kids' Blood Pressure

Too Much TV, Computer Use May Elevate Blood Pressure in Young Children
Bill Hendrick, WebMD, Aug 4, 2009

Too much "screen time," whether it's watching TV, using a computer,
or playing a video game, may raise the blood pressure of young
children, a new study shows.

This is true even if the children are not obese or overweight,
researchers report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics &
Adolescent Medicine.

The researchers say they found -- apparently for the first time -- a
link between sedentary behavior and elevated blood pressure in
children aged 3 through 8. The findings suggest that increased media
exposure for children may be much worse for children's health than
previously thought, the study's co-author Joe Eisenmann, PhD, says in
a news release. Eisenmann is a professor in Michigan State
University's Department of Kinesiology and a former colleague of the
study's lead author David Martinez-Gomez, BSc, of Iowa State University.

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