Fazal, our nutritionist explains
TV’s, laptops, PC’s, iPads. We spend far too much time on them and alarmingly so do the younger generation. These forms of technology can’t magically make you gain weight but there has been shown to be a knock on effect of spending too much time in front of the TV.
Over recent years research (mostly conducted on children) has shown that the children who spend the most time in front of the TV tend to have weight control issues. The reasons for this are simple:
• If they’re in front of the TV they’re certainly not going to be outdoors or doing physical activity which means they’re using less energy during the day
• TV time also tends to become snack time. Snacks tend to be crisps, biscuits and other readily available low quality foods
So it’s not necessarily the TV to blame but the other behaviours that tend to come with it and the reduction in physical activity that could have been happening instead. These same effects occur in many adults without them even realising.
So how do we fix this?
1. Both adults and children should begin by spending 15-30 minutes less in front of the TV per day and use this time to do something physical (even a light walk will suffice!).
2. The time spent away from the TV should gradually be built up whilst simultaneously trying to correct the other factors causing snacking and poor food choice (more on this later).
3. Once the other factors have been introduced more TV time can steadily be reintroduced.
Oh and the same goes for XBOX, PS4, iPads and anything else with the power to turn people into zombies. Give it a try, you might be surprised with the results.