Couch potatoes found to have bigger waistlines

WATCHING too much TV might not make your eyes go square.

But every extra hour of television children watch a week could be increasing the size of their waistline and hampering their athletic ability.

A new study has shown 10-year-olds who watched 18 hours a week at the age of four had waistlines 7.6mm bigger than those of children who watched an average of just 14.8 hours.

Moreover the distance children could jump was reduced by a third of a centimetre for each extra hour they had watched per week at the age of two.

“The bottom line is that watching too much television is not good,” said Researcher Dr Linda Pagani, who hopes the study will encourage authorities to target the factors behind childhood obesity.

“These findings support clinical suspicions that more screen time contributes to the rise in excess weight thus providing essential clues for effective approaches to its eradication.”