It’s National Turn Off the TV Week: Do It For Healthy Eating’s Sake

Apr 23, 2009 by

Campaign_DigitalDetoxWeek Turning off the TV, not just this week but every week, is one of the best moves parents can make if they hope to get their children in the habit of healthy eating. For a child who watches more than an infinitesimal amount of TV, efforts to build healthy eating habits may well be futile.

Of course we all know, whether we act on that knowledge or not, that the more we sit in front of the TV, the higher our risk of being overweight.

But the problem is not simply that we are physically inactive as we sit there, when we could be playing outdoors. Passive TV viewing, instead of working up our healthy appetite through activity, also gives us an unhealthy urge to…

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Food Porn and How to Rescue Your Child from It Now

Jan 5, 2009 by

Overweight_kids_03 If you want to start the New Year out right with one thing that can have a major impact on your child’s overall well-being, turn off the TV.  TV’s effect on eating habits is reason enough, though only the beginning.

“Food on television makes one think about eating and gets one’s gastric juices flowing, triggering the release of insulin, lowering one’s blood sugar, and stimulating food cravings,” writes Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat. “It’s gastronomic pornography.”

Americans, unlike the French, have a conditioned impulse to snack while watching TV anyway, and food ads whip that urge to a frenzy.  For the French, food is always the main event, never background accompaniment to another…

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