OBJECTIVE. We examined the effect of activity-enhancing screen devices on children's energy expenditure compared with performing the same activities while seated. Our hypothesis was that energy expenditure would be significantly greater when children played activity-promoting video games, compared with sedentary video games.METHODS. Energy expenditure was measured for 25 children aged 8 to 12 years, 15 of whom were lean, while they were watching television seated, playing a traditional video game seated, watching television while walking on a treadmill at 1.5 miles per hour, and playing activity-promoting video games.RESULTS. Watching television and playing video games while seated increased energy expenditure by 20 +/- 13% and 22 +/- 12% above resting values, respectively. When subjects were walking on the treadmill and watching television, energy expenditure increased by 138 +/- 40% over resting values. For the activity-promoting video games, energy expenditure increased by 108 +/- 40% with the EyeToy (Sony Computer Entertainment) and by 172 +/- 68% with Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 2 (Konami Digital Entertainment).CONCLUSIONS. Energy expenditure more than doubles when sedentary screen time is converted to active screen time. Such interventions might be considered for obesity prevention and treatment. Read more...

Objective: To assess the relationship between short sleep duration and obesity-related variables in children involved in the 'Quebec en Forme' Project. Design: Cross-sectional study. Subjects: A total of 422 children (211 boys and 211 girls) aged between 5 and 10 years from primary schools in the City of Trois-Rivieres (Quebec) were selected to participate in this study. Measurements: Body weight, height and waist circumference were measured. The children were classified as normal, underweight, overweight or obese, according to body mass index (BMI) per age. An exhaustive questionnaire was administered by telephone to the parents of children. Results: The percentage of overweight/obesity was 20.0% in boys and 24.0% in girls. When compared to children reporting 12-13 h of sleep per day, the adjusted odds ratio for childhood overweight/obesity was 1.42 (95% confidence interval 1.09-1.98) for those with 10.5-11.5 h of sleep and 3.45 (2.61-4.67) for those with 8-10 h of sleep after adjustment for age, sex, and other risk factors. Parental obesity, low parental educational level, low total family income, long hours of TV watching, playing videogames or computer utilization, absence of breastfeeding and physical inactivity were also significantly associated with childhood overweight/obesity. In addition, we observed a significant negative association adjusted for age between sleep duration and body weight (-0.33, P < 0.01), BMI (-0.12, P < 0.01) and waist circumference (-0.24, P < 0.01) in boys. Conclusion: An inverse association was observed between sleep duration and the risk to develop childhood overweight/obesity. Longitudinal research will be required to confirm a potential link of causality between these variables. Read more...