(Newsroom America) -- Reducing television viewing may be an
effective strategy to prevent excess weight gain among
adolescents, according to a new study in the September/October
2012 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.
Findings were based on a one-year community-based randomized
trial that enrolled 153 adults and 72 adolescents from the same
households. During that year, researchers from the University of
Minnesota, School of Public Health Obesity Prevention Center
conducted six face-to-face group meetings, sent monthly
newsletters, and set-up 12 home-based activities. In addition,
each household agreed to allow researchers to attach a "TV
Allowance" to all televisions in the household for the one-year
study period. Television viewing hours, diet, and physical
activity levels were measured before and after the intervention.
A clear association was observed among adolescents between
reduction in TV hours and decreased weight gain over one year.
The TV hours' impact on weight gain was not