Couch Potato Tots?
By Karisa Ding and Psyche Pascual
CONSUMER HEALTH INTERACTIVE
Your toddler may seem like a perpetual motion machine, so does he really need your help getting enough exercise? These days, with the lure of television and strollers, the answer may be yes. Seventeen percent of children are now overweight, and a small study in the United Kingdom even found that the average 3-year-old is as sedentary as an office worker. Whether it's through tumbling fun or a trip to the playground, find out why child's play is so important to your little one's well-being. Click here or on the picture to start. Multimedia Team
Director and producer: Karisa Ding
Video production: Karisa Ding and Psyche Pascual
Senior editor and production supervisor: Paige Bierma
Flash production: David Dudley and Eric Turner
Web production: Deepi Brar
Executive producer: Diana Hembree
Photo credits: Karisa Ding, Psyche Pascual, devulderj/Snapvillage.com, Hallgerd /Snapvillage.com, hortongrou/SXC.hu HAAP Media Ltd., geowillis/SXC.hu HAAP Media Ltd., DoortenJ/SXC.hu HAAP Media Ltd., Photoeuphoria/Dreamstime.com, Isabel Poulin/Dreamstime.com, Brad Killer/Istockphoto.com, photosmurf/Snapvillage.com, coppiright/Snapvillage.com, Dagmar Heymans/Istockphoto.com, Andrea Velez-Greene/Istockphoto.com, lijlexmom/Istockphoto.com Troubleshooting
• As always, Internet Explorer users need to click once on a Flash file to "activate" it before any links or buttons will work. |
| •Multimedia files tend to be large, so users with slower connections or high network traffic may experience short delays while loading Flash or video files. |
| •If the video looks slow or jerky, try hitting the "pause" button and letting the video buffer for a while (check the loading bar and wait for it to reach the end for smoothest viewing). |
| •If you don't hear any sound, try turning up the volume of your computer speakers and checking if your computer volume has been set to mute. |
| •If the Flash package doesn't open or videos won't play, you may need to download and install the latest version of the free Flash player from Adobe Systems, Inc. |
Note: If you're at work, you may have trouble downloading or installing Flash or other programs because of firewalls, lack of administrative rights, or other restrictions on your network or computer.
References
Interview with Dr. June Tester, pediatrician
Interview with Marci Briskin, owner and director, MyGym
Interview with Martha Adin, a preschool gymnastics instructor for California Gymnastics
Interview with Debra Dwinnell, parent of MyGym student
Institute of Medicine. Childhood obesity in the United States: facts and figures. September 2004. http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/22/606/FINALfactsandfigures2.pdf
National Institutes of Health. Overweight in early childhood increases chances for obesity at age 12. Sept. 5, 2006. http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2006/nichd-05.htm
Nemours Foundation. Overweight and obesity. http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/food/weight/overweight_obesity.html
National Associations of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions. Childhood obesity statistics and facts. January 2007. http://www.childrenshospitals.net/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Homepage&CONTENTID=24553&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm
Nader PR, O'Brien M, et al. Identifying risk for obesity in early childhood. Pediatrics. 118(3). September 2006. http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/118/3/e594
Reviewed by Michael Potter, MD, an attending physician and associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who is board certified in family practice.
Our reviewers are members of Consumer Health Interactive's medical advisory board.
To learn more about our writers and editors, click here.
First published December 13, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Consumer Health Interactive
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