Kids are by far the most voracious consumers of TV. Children in the United States watch 15,000 to 18,000 hours of television between the ages of 2 and 17 as compared to 12,000 hours of school.

This is most unfortunate as TV is one of the most pernicious influences your child can have, and I would strongly advise you to severely limit if not eliminate viewing commercial TV. Not only does TV decrease your child's activity level, but it exposes them to commercials promoting worthless processed foods.

You probably already know that your child's obesity risks rise with the more TV they watch on the weekend. These new studies once again demonstrate that not wasting time in front of the tube can be an important factor in losing those extra pounds and keeping them off.

In addition to increasing your child's risk of obesity through inactivity and ill health through choices of junk food, watching TV has been shown to increase your debt. Yes, Harvard researchers have found that for every hour of television you watch per week, you are likely to spend an extra $200. Sitting in front of the television five extra hours a week (two sitcoms a night) raises your yearly spending by about $1,000.

Indebtedness as an outgrowth of TV watching arises not so much from repeated exposure to advertising, but from your attempt to emulate the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by fictional characters in soap operas and prime-time television dramas. The more television you watch the more you tend to believe that you should have servants, limousines, and huge houses.

So remember that the most important factor in keeping your child healthy is parental involvement and parental example. If you want healthy kids, get healthy yourself and get involved in their lives.

Some things you can do to fight childhood obesity in your home:

• Get rid of the sugary fruit and soft drinks, and give them clean water to drink.
• Keep them moving with exercise.
• Review my comprehensive list of activities you can do with your kids besides watch TV.