Research reported by Healio found that children who did not get enough sleep or exercise and watched too much TV were more likely to be obese.

Within the cohort, researchers found that 35% of children met guidelines for moderate to vigorous physical activity, 31% met guidelines for television viewing and 52% met goals for sleep duration, whereas 27% of children met none of the guidelines, 36% met one of the guidelines, 28% met two of the guidelines and 8% met all three guidelines. A higher proportion of white children met the guidelines vs. black children, researchers noted.

Odds for developing obesity increased when children achieved fewer parameters, according to the researchers. When compared with children who met none of the guidelines, those who met all three parameters had 89% lower odds of having obesity (OR = 0.12; 95% CI, 0.03-0.56). In children meeting two of three guidelines, the OR was 0.7 (95% CI, 0.38-1.29) vs. those meeting none of the guidelines. In children who met only one of the guidelines, OR for developing obesity was 0.79 (95% CI, 0.46-1.35) vs. children meeting none of the guidelines.

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