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By Mom Unplugged, February 7, 2010 5:09 pm

QUESTION: Which one of these photos represents 120 calories?

ANSWER: All.

Do you feel the need to lose a little weight after the excesses of the holidays? Believe it or not, according to a new study, simply watching less TV could cause you to burn an average of 120 more calories per day!

That doesn’t sound huge, but according to the New York Times, that is the number of calories burned on a one mile walk. It is also the number of calories in these servings of foods.

According to Dr. Jennifer Otten, lead author of the study:

“We need a longer-term study to see if this would be an intervention that would help with weight loss, or even weight gain prevention. But if you add it up over time, it’s equivalent to walking eight miles a week. Over a year, it might help prevent weight gain of 12 pounds.“

Why does unplugging have this effect? According to the study by Dr. Otten published in the December 14-28 of the Archives of Internal Medicine, adults who cut their TV viewing in half spent more time in light physical activities, or even couch-potato activities that burn more calories than TV-watching does (simple “unplugged” activities like reading, playing board games or scrapbooking!). Their eating patterns did not change*.

The study was based on 36 overweight and obese adults who watched at least 3 hours of television per day. 20 of those people were asked to cut their viewing in half (enforced through a TV lock-out device). Armband accelerometers measured the movements of all participants.

*NOTE: An interesting inference from the NY Times Article is that children who cut back on TV actually DO EAT LESS TOO! Would kids benefit even more than adults by cutting TV viewing in half??

Interesting links:

What Does 120 Calories Look Like? (Be sure to look at the 38 photos at the bottom of the page too)

What Does 200 Calories Look Like?

Click Off the TV, and Burn More Calories

THE STUDY: Effects of Television Viewing Reduction on Energy Intake and Expenditure in Overweight and Obese Adults - A Randomized Controlled Trial

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By Mom Unplugged, April 2, 2008 9:34 am

Be sure to stop by The Toby Show to read Jonah Lisa’s update on how her “7-Step TV Trap Action Plan” is going. Her 7 step program appears to be successful so far, so head over to her site and take notes if you are trying to cut back your children’s TV viewing time too!

(In case you missed it, here is my original post about Jonah Lisa: Cutting Back TV - “OK, But How?”)

Comments (9)

By Mom Unplugged, March 17, 2008 9:01 pm

I spend a lot of time talking about the benefits of reducing children’s television viewing, but I don’t always say much about HOW to do it. For us, it has always been pretty easy. Since my children have never had TV, they don’t miss it. Definitely the easiest way to go.

But how do you reduce or eliminate TV-watching when your children are used to it, and most likely really enjoy it? I imagine that this could require some…hmmm…”delicate handling.”

Of course for the very strong among you, cold-turkey is always an option. While you’re at it, cold showers, 10-mile winter hikes, and cod liver oil are probably good for kids too. But let’s be real here: is it really worth it? The resulting drama, weeping and wailing that could possibly occur, might make life not worth living for the parents! So what can parents do to reduce TV-time without undue suffering?

Jonah Lisa has some ideas. She wrote an interesting and witty post about how her son Huck’s television-viewing gradually and insidiously increased. Finally, caught in a “shame spiral” about his viewing-time, she decided to take action and came up with a very practical TV-reduction plan (her “7 Step TV Trap Action Plan”). Last I heard, the plan has been in place for a week and seems to be working with minimal misery for all!

I will not list her ideas here since they are her ideas, not mine. Instead I will send any of you interested readers over to The Toby Show to read Jonah Lisa’s “7 Step TV Trap Action Plan” for yourselves. Her post is entertaining and the advice is great! Please stop by if you have any interest at all in reducing your children’s TV-viewing.

One last thought: National TV-Turn Off Week is coming soon (April 21st-27th), so if you plan on giving it a go, now might be a good time to begin, or at least think about decreasing TV-dependency, so that turning it off for one whole week is not quite such a shock!

Photo courtesy of morguefile and photographer Kristine Kisky.