By
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Attention kids: Drop that remote control, put down those fattening snacks munched while watching television, and go outside to play.
That's the message in a campaign beginning today that encourages youngsters and their families to turn off their sets and exercise more.
"This is the most overweight, obese generation of children in our history," Surgeon General David Satcher said in an interview. "The message this week is about saving lives."
One parent whose family is taking the no-television pledge said his children, ages 5 and 10, will skip the few hours of public television they usually are allowed.
"It's just such a fixture in our lives," said Tom Cara, an advertising businessman from Niles, Ill., who is leading the campaign in his community. "But we have to set an example for our children."
Studies show U.S. children are watching, on average, 1,000 hours of television each year, or about three hours every day. At the same time, about one in 15 school-age children is overweight.
Those numbers add up to a public health crisis, Satcher said. As adults, today's young couch potatoes will have heart disease, diabetes and other life-threatening ailments, he said.
"If children are spending a thousand hours in front of the TV, they're not doing much else," says Jennifer Kurz, spokeswoman for the TV Turnoff Network, which says television is the main culprit for poor exercise habits.
