TV & VIDEO - July 21, 1987

High school students who shun television run faster and jump higher than other teen-agers who spend a significant amount of their time before the tube, according to Psychology Today. Health professor Larry Tucker of Auburn University, Tex., divided 397 high school boys into three groups, depending on the number of hours of TV they watched every day, then put them through a workout that included sit-ups, pull-ups, long jumps and a six-minute jog. Those who watched TV infrequently did “significantly” better on an overall fitness index, Tucker reported. He said frequent TV viewers may be in worse shape because they are learning poor eating habits from advertisers and because they remain inactive. Tucker said there was no difference in obesity among the groups, which were divided into those who watched two, two to four, and more than four hours of television a day.