Ha Ha - this is so ridiculous! Same Magazine has this article as well!
http://www.besthealthmag.ca/embrace-life/home-and-family/how-video-games-are-good-for-kids
We never had TV or Video or Ipods back then and there was still plenty of over-weight kids and parents - even though they did play outside and did exercise! Genetics is more likely the culprit. An increase of modified foods injected with additives doesn't help these days!
Write your Government to stop paying for these ridiculous Research Projects, and start enforcing food producers and manufactures to use REAL food without pesticides, waxes, additives, toxic dyes like Tartrazine in every food items in the store! Put money into more community gardens so real food can be had by everyone, even in URBAN center and feed people for less by keeping necessary healthy food costs down in the stores, and eliminate all the unhealthy foods!
STOP allowing manufactures to add sugars, syrups, BHT, fillers and other additives to make food simply trick you into thinking that is what food should taste like! EAT home-grown, Canadian food! Not foods brought across the ocean, packaged in Canada, shipped to warehouses and then to numerous grocery stores and sit on the shelves making the food at least a month old by the time you buy it! DUH!

What a bunch of boloney! Why is the reality of Genetics or other contributing medical factors never taken into consideration!
Fact is: Of the people I know who are Skinny, even anorexic and pale, are so
wrapped up in video games, computers, TV, & live with their Iphones,
Ipods, etc. that they have "no time" to eat or go shopping for food (like
teachers) then live on non-nutritious fast foods that tire them out so,
then they need to nap often!
BUT they are far from having a large waist! They are TOOTHPICKS
and have trouble finding clothes to fit them - hence the reason that
the new fad is everyone wearing their pants down to their knees with
underwear showing!

Wow - more of our taxpaying dollars being spent on RIDICULOUS RESEARCH PROJECTS that do nothing more than waste funding that could be better used in REAL HANDS-ON Healthcare, Education for Elementary, Middle and High Schools - particularly those with any form of Learning Disability; simply to appease our pathetic Food & Drug Administration; Manufacturers of Food and Drugs; focusing on having everyone consume these completely UNHEALTHY and often DANGEROUS products, often with the hidden concept of looking great and losing weight! IT'S ALL A CROCK!
What SHOULD have been said, is that the BOMBARDMENT of unhealthy, false, and unwarranted COMMERCIALS of FAST FOOD, BEAUTY PRODUCTS, etc. is what is pounded into people's brains, making them feel inferior enough to have to have that product to be "better"!
Stop wasting money on all this "health" B.S. RESEARCH! STOP HARASSING OUR KIDS AT SCHOOL with questionnaires without parent's consent! KIDS ARE OVERWHELMED WITH YOUR CRAP YOU FEED THEM AT SCHOOL AS WELL AS THE COMMERCIALS ON THE RADIO, TV, EVERY BILLBOARD AND BULLETIN BOARD OF PURE BOGUS INFORMATION.
Telling everyone to eat fresh food, apparently "healthy" food that was brought here by truck or ship from CHINA, without proper maintenance and supervision, then packaged in Canada so they can say it comes from Canada because it costs more for the packaging - yet their is absolutely NO NUTRITIOUS VALUE in the food we purchase! READ THE INGREDIENTS ON YOUR STORE BOUGHT FOOD PRODUCTS - NOTHING IS NATURAL OR FIT FOR CONSUMPTION!
SERIOUSLY, HOW can Fish that were shipped from China, packaged in Calgary or Vancouver, be considered FRESH - AFTER it is shipped across Canada to various warehouses and then to the stores and sits on the shelves for how long?
I did not see a TV until I was 6 years old, but the radio still bombarded us with advertisements and messages of how we are not good enough unless we consume, consume, consume - something and everything.
SCHOOLS DO NEXT TO NOTHING FOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ANYMORE, One 30 min phys.ed class a week hardly cuts it! We had phys-ed every single day for one hour! But then, WE WENT TO SCHOOL A FULL HOUR MORE THAN THEY DO NOW!
I ate garden grown foods, BC fruits - fresh picked! I ate fresh fish and quickly became tired of store bought red meats and poultry!
I seldom PLAYED outside, but did skip rope, had races, but was always outside working! Doing chores, milking cows, feeding pigs, weeding the garden, butchering chickens, fishing, camping out (although the wood-smoke fire pit has taken it's toll on my lungs); and we physically shoveled our way out of the house, walked to & from school, and babysat our siblings or younger family members. We also ate THREE large full meals a day, with homemade dessert; PLUS THREE Snacks a Day of Fruit and Vegetables and sandwiches! We were NOT SKINNY, NOT OVERWEIGHT, we were NORMAL Weight - which is what everyone considers overweight these days!
As I got into my 20's and was stuck in an office behind a desk all day, I tried desperately to maintain my healthy eating habits and stay physically active. BUT SOCIETY HAS IT"S OWN DEMANDS, PARTICULARLY IN URBAN AREAS: Working overtime, Volunteering, Office "Socials" that I could do without; along with household cleaning, shopping, there is little time to care for the yard, let alone do much physical activity such as biking, or going to the gym.
I managed to stay at 120 lbs, UNTIL I became pregnant with my first child! I have yet to lose all the weight that I gained there. My waistline and hips have remained 12" bigger since I gave birth, even though I work out 1 hour each day, I keep asking Doctors to check my thyroid, as this is a normal problem after giving birth; but they dismiss me! Some healthcare! They keep telling you that your overweight, but won't go through the logical process to find out why or tell you how to lose it! I still eat the same way, although I no longer have available to me fresh garden produce or fresh fish, we eat as much as we can from local farmers and my very small garden in the city. Oh, by the way, WE DON'T HAVE TELEVISION, yet, Doctors, Educators and other healthcare personnel suggest that we are too sedentary?? Hmm....Swimming 4 to 6 times a week, Walk/Jog an hour per day; Bike about 1 hour 3x a week, gym 3 to 5x a week!
NOT ONCE can their Lack of Good Education ever tell them that there might just be a problem with the amounts and the types of food additives we consume!???
GET REAL! STOP WASTING MONEY ON STUPID RESEARCH
AND PUT MONEY INTO ENSURING THAT THE FOOD CHAIN IS
MADE UP OF HEALTHY, NON-ADDITIVE BASED PRODUCTS AT
AN AFFORDABLE PRICE!
STOP Increasing prices for less unhealthy product to cover your A$$! People are not stupid! We know what your doing, but the GOVERNMENT won't help!
THE PROBLEM IS OUR PATHETIC ATTEMPT AT A BLOATED FOOD
CHAIN FULL OF UNNECESSARY ADDITIVES AND FILLERS!
The WORST offenders of a growing weight in our population is our Governments allowing Manufacturers and Health Providers to sell this B.S. all in the name of keeping the money flowing! Problem is, eventually it get's flushed out - in the name of healthcare! To allow companies to still use highly carcinogenic and fat-storing chemicals/toxins in our food and then have the audacity to tell us it is because we watched TOO MUCH TV as kids is NOT ONLY IRRESPONSIBLE, IT'S IRRATIONAL!!

It is just an excuse because i known kids who play football and soccer growing up and when they were toddlers they never sat still but by the time they hit 30 they gained alot of weight it has nothing to do with your childhood or the past in general people are to busy to work out their either working or cooking cleaning or what ever at home for their kids or with their kids.... the truth is alot of people just dont have the time to anymore

what a waste of tax payers money anyone with half a brain would be able to tell u that an unactive person will gain weight i never comment on what people do but this is so ridulous that i'm even mad at myself for reading this article stop wasting money and put it to better use

THIS IS NOT TRUE!!!! ITS THE PARENTS FAULT FOR LETTING KIDS WATCH TO MUCH TV. IF THE PARENTS WANT KIDS TO STOP THEN TELL THEM TO. DONT BLAME KIDS!!

No I do not think that there is any correlation with watching T.v and an increase in weight. Everything needs to be done in moderation and or balance. Yeah I mean if a child is sitting and watching television for hours in a day then of course weight will increase not sure what new news this study is trying to give to common people.

wow...they actually had to do a "study" to acknowledge this :-s

I hate to say it but this isn't the only reason for weight gain. In kids, maybe but certainly not as an adult. I used to watch no TV as a kid and was very active. I had a very thin waist line when I was young but once you hit the age of 13 and if you get any stress the weight just starts pilling on no matter how much or how little TV you watch. That was my case anyway.

Don't go around saying that watching TV is the reason for a child's weight gain because there's a hell of alot more to it then that.

So this sounds like an excuse and somewhat of an insult; as an adult, if I'm obese you're telling me it could be related to too much 'video' time at the computer / TV when I was a child? I don't buy it.
Its a simple balanced equation = we all require a activity every day, 6-7 days week, all of our lives. And a diet is both nutrition and activity. I equate it to 2:1, approximately (66% and 33%, respectively). I gueess that 5-10% of our weekly consumption can be treats (about 1 treat every 2 or 3 days), but what constitutes a treat and healty need to be defined for other people.
Unfortunately, of course these defintions have ranges of acceptibility. For example, obese people who eat burgers and diet pop think that's health. Hahaha
I would highly recommend a study be focused on an upgraded acceptably healthy food consumption guide based on a routinely active lifestyle. And suggested activities for that lifestyle.
I apologize if I've gone off topic...

Another "study" that attempts to prove someone's half-baked theory. Why do people print this drivel? Like most "studies" conducted these days by over-educated, under-experienced professional students with too much time on their hands and a personal mission to remake the world in their own perception, this one attempts to prove an hypothesis that ignores many directly limiting factors.

This is a sociological change that takes on an almost "evolutionary" context. An increase in leisure time, and development of sendentary leisure activities, are much larger in scope than just blaming your childhood for eveything... Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...

I am afraid they are going to have to use another excuse. When I grew up we all played outside, running, jumping and playing games, we did not grow up in front of the TV. Perhaps they should analyze the north american diet. I grew up on whole foods, no chips, no french fries, we grew a huge garden and ate fresh veggies every day. Todays children are more sedentary, but the diet is more to blame than anything. Pasta, breads, fast food, processed foods are all staples at home because this generation does not have time to cook properly.If we had more stay at home Moms we might have a better waitline nationally!

"What do you think? Does watching too much TV as a child contribute to weight gain later in life?"
Why do they ask this at the end? Didn't the article just finish saying that a study showed a real correlation? It doesn't matter what I think about these results, the truth doesn't change whether or not I believe it. So in other words, if I'm to take this article seriously at all I have no choice but to answer 'Yes, indeed watching "too much" TV will contribute to making kids fat.'
Not to mention the fact that parents that allow their kids to watch excess amounts of TV probably slack all together in their parenting strategies which likely means poorer diet and less parent-child interaction, both of which would lead to larger waistlines.

I never watched TV as a child and was always outside playing, so plenty of activity. Despite all that I do have a weight gain problem now that I'm older. I do not support watching TV for small children, since there is a lot of uneducational and fictional stuff on it ( and all these commercials ??), which I think have bad influence on a childs imagination. I'm nor sure if it really has much to do with weight gain. I guess that is also a factor of wrong nurishment. Lots of people these days can't even cook anymore and tend to feed fast food and finished menu from the freezer .

I don't agree with this study at all. My 16 year old step-son is always in front of the tv/computer and he is SKINNY. The difference? He was raised eating very healthy foods with very little focus on junk food. I don't think he was exposed to candy, chips, etc. before school age.

I never watched TV as a kid. Was always outside doing something. Never just sat around.
As an adult, I am now over weight. Explain that one because according to your article I should be thin.
Your thinking is way off. People in my age group did not have TV to watch. We made our own entertainment.

Weight gain is caused by consuming more than you burn off NOT by watching TV. Now if you eat the whole time you're watching TV.........................

I am child from the 60's - didnt get our first TV til i was at least 6 years old, and even then only dad was allowed to watch what he wanted - we played out til it was dark, running around the neighbourhood, cycling here and there or walking to get to where we needed as the car was not a luxury item we had. but here i am in my mid-40's with a large waistline...... can the experts explain that?

if this is true i shouldn't have a waistline. i was 7rs old before we even had a television............and it was black and white with three fuzzy channels.

Duh!

It's not the TV it's the lazy parents using the TV as the live in nanny. I would imagine if they are to lazy or preoccupied to interact with their children their not cooking a healthy meal either

As a kid, growing up, everything was activity, running,walking everywhere, cycling. always outdoors, and, I must say, a very slim diet. At the age of 21, I was 5'7" & 126 lbs To day @ 77 I'm 5'6" & 190 Lbs. So, what ever I did when I was younger, does not reflect on what I am to day. The Diets & the Activities have to be kept up every day of your life if you wish to be slim & what ever. But, if you dont, when you get there, a good single malt is a good reward and, greatly appreciated.

I watched an extrordinary amount of tv as a child and as an adult I am overweight, but my cousin wached vary little tv and is still vary active but he is almost 50 lb. heavier than I am so I believe tv watching is a factor but I personnaly would prefer the knowlage I gained from educational tv than a decreased waist size. Excuse my spelling.

I don't think TV itself is to blame for this. If a child sat in one spot reading for an hour would his waist size increase? Obviously, not being active enough is not good for you, but this could happen from anything like that.

Duh! Really ? What a waste of money spent on this study? Can we also have a study to determine if eating junk food causes obesity.

Who pays for these studies? Duh! Of course sitting in front of a TV is going to contribute to weight gain. Why do we need scientific evidence to convince us of this? Stupid.

I have a 13 year old son who always plays video games and watches tv and he is still a very healthy boy. I personally think this is bullcrap.