Weight Management and Children

Findings from a recent national study suggest that preschool-aged children have a 40 percent lower risk of obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eat dinner as a family five or more days per week; get adequate sleep (10.5 hours average); and limit weekday television viewing to two hours or less. The study is significant because it involved more than 8,000 children and the results held true for every socioeconomic and ethnic group studied - even for families in which there was a higher risk of obesity.