FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         26^th APRIL 2002

Will Turning Off the Television Keep Kids Fit?

Australian children, today, are not as physically active as their parents and grandparents were in their youth. The connection between less physical activity and the increasing levels of overweight and obesity in children in Australia is strong and contributes to the health problems of young Australians. Can parents help the health of their children simply by turning off the television?

At a recent Nutrition Australia seminar held in Brisbane, one of the keynote speakers, Dr. Stewart Trost, a researcher, from the School of Human Movement Studies at the University of Queensland, stated "simply limiting television watching time does not make children more physically active. Parents need to make sure that children replace some of the television watching with ‘getting outdoors’ more. Studies show once children are playing outside in the garden they increase their physical activity." According to Dr. Trost, "while children remain indoors they will usually replace their television watching with another sedentary activity."

Aloysa Hourigan, from Nutrition Australia suggests that families need to look for active things to do together – "playing in the park, throwing a basketball around or going for a family bike ride are all active ways of spending fun times together that not only help our physical health but allow children to see physical activity as a normal and enjoyable part of life –parents can be great role models for this."

"Being more physically active will help to protect us against the major lifestyle diseases, such as heart disease and diabetes" said Ms. Hourigan.

Ideas for helping young people to improve their fitness can be found in the Nutrition Australia publication "Your Food Your Body" (ph. (07) 3257 4393 or (03) 9528 2453 or email : qld@nutritionaustralia.org )

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