To see their favorite shows, couch potatoes have to pedal. An obesity researcher who came up with the ''TVcycle'' says early tryouts helped youngsters shed fat and discouraged TV viewing. David Allison of St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York knows parents are not going to race to rewire TV sets and he cautions that his findings are preliminary. The National Institutes of Health says about 55 percent of American adults are overweight or obese, up from 43 percent in 1960. Studies also suggest more than 13 percent of youngsters ages 6 through 17 are overweight, and getting fatter each year.
Lack of exercise is a main cause.
Research shows television is a major culprit for kids, mesmerizing children who otherwise might burn calories while playing. Formal exercise programs do not help much because it is hard to get to a gym or playground regularly, particularly for young children with busy parents, so scientists are hunting for home-based tricks to get kids moving, Allison said. For his experiment, an engineer rewired TV sets to work only while the viewer was pedaling an attached bicycle. Built-in computers measure how long the televisions were on. The TVcycles, which are back in Allison's office as he hunts money for a larger study, are not for sale.