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Childs Play - Coach Potato
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Exercise for the Coach Potatoes
It seems that in the not too distance future children
who want to watch their favourite TV programme will have
to pedal to do so, according to recent research carried
out at St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York.
A
researcher has developed a way in which our coach potato
children can exercise, lose weight and still watch the
TV. All at the same time! |
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Lack of exercise by sitting in front of the TV is the
cause of over 55 per cent of overweight American adults,
with over 13 per cent of children aged between sex and
17 being overweight and getting fatter each year.
Tests were carried out on 10 children aged eight to 12,
all overweight. Six of the children were given TV
cycles. These were exercise bikes linked to a TV set via
a computer system. The only way to watch the TV was to
pedal. The remaining four children were given a normal
bike. After just a few weeks the results showed that the
four who continued to loll in front of the TV and saw 20
hours a week, pedalled only 8 minutes a week.
Whilst the
six children given the TV cycles watched and pedalled
one hour a week resulting in a two per cent loss of
their total body fat. The report did not say what the
children did instead of watching the TV! The researcher
says this may not be a way of solving the world's
obesity problems but changes in lifestyle, such as
charging for the use of lifts, could certainly help.
Research continues. (2001)
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