TV & VIDEO - Oct. 5, 1988

Increased hours of TV viewing has been cited by a Harvard University researcher as one of the leading causes of the current rise in youth obesity. Steven Gortmaker, associate professor and acting chairman of the department of behavioral sciences at Harvard, told a group of dietitians this week that rates of obesity among children and adolescents went up an average of about 45% between 1960 and the early 1980s. “Television viewing for children is now practically a full-time job equal to the time spent in school,” said Gortmaker, adding that diet, a general decline in physical activity and television commercials for generally high-calorie foods combine to contribute to the dramatic increase in overweight youngsters.