Misspent youth

X-Box, Playstation, Wii, Game Cube -- oh yeah, and let's not forget the internet. Throw in some standard television programs and cartoons, and before you know it, every waking hour of a kid's day is spent doing something that involves zero physical activity.

Some may argue that the Nintendo Wii system, which requires you to move in a manner that dictates the movement of the character on the screen (for example, if you are playing a tennis game, you have to "swing" the game controller), does involve physical exertion. But let's face it, it's still a poor excuse for exercise. Obesity rates continue to climb in youth and adolescents, and now research points to the fact that high blood pressure may also be on the rise -- all due to spending too much time engaged in sedentary activities.

Researchers from the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and the University of Tokyo, Japan teamed up to examine the effects off too much TV/Internet/Video Games on kids. In their study of 4,500 American adolescents, the researchers found that sedentary lifestyles and higher body mass index (BMI) are associated with higher systolic blood pressure. Simply put, the more time spent in front of a screen of some sort (computer, video game, TV, etc.), the less healthy these 12-to-15-year-olds were.

High blood pressure in adolescents is predictive of hypertension in adulthood. Furthermore, adolescent obesity is an indicator of adult obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in young adulthood and beyond. So, maybe it's time kids started getting back to basics -- and by basics, I don't mean an Atari system, I mean actually going outside and playing.