Childhood obesity risk increases with increased screen time : Study reveals

Obesity is a major health problem among children and adolescents. Numerous factors are associated with childhood obesity including increased dietary intake of high-fat snacks and fast foods, large portion sizes, increased consumption of sugar sweetened beverages and other environmental and genetic factors.

In the current studies involving systematic review and meta-analysis revealed a 

positive association between screen time and obesity among children without any evidence of non-linear association.

The results of the two-class meta-analysis showed that those at the highest category of screen time were 1.2 times more likely to develop obesity.

Physical inactivity is prevalent among children; on average, children spent 41% and 51% of the after-school period in sedentary time mainly which includes using mobile phones or laptops at after-school care and other locations.

Children who spent more than 3 h per day watching TV were 1.8 times more likely to be obese .

Screen time is dramatically increased as a results of development in technology, like increased electronic media use, TV watching and computer using by children .

American Academy of Pediatrics recommends limiting screen-time among children and adolescents to less than 2 h per day with no screens for kids under 2, and less than an hour per day for kids 2 to 5.