Friends Influence Teens' Physical Activity and TV Viewing Habits

Physical activity of a teen entirely depends up on his/her friends, a new study says.

For analyzing the link, lead study author Dr. John R. Sirard from the University of Virginia and colleagues, used data from E.A.T. ( Eating and Activity among Teens) 2012 survey carried out in 20 schools based in Minnesota.

At the end of the study, they found both screen time and physical activity of the young generation influenced by their friends and their preferences.

Compared to girls, boys were found spending more time in front of the TV and also participating in healthy physical activity. Surprisingly, researchers found female friends having a greater influence on boys' decision, on both the TV time and physical activity, compared to male friends.

Among girls, physical activity depended upon both male and female friends, while screen time was entirely influenced by male friends.

The results challenge some previous gender-related concepts involved with teen leisure time, according to MedicalXpress.

"We anticipated we'd see a pretty consistent association between male adolescents and their male friends for both screen time-television, computer or video games, but not phone apps-and physical activity. We thought the 'jocks' would hang out together or active boys with other active boys and that if a boy was inactive, the same thing would occur," said  Sirard  in a news release.

Findings of the study have been published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

The current study supports previous studies and proves that peer influence is a major aspect in making positive lifestyle changes among the young generation.

A study published in the Journal Pediatrics, end of May found spending time with more physically active groups of friends helping children to become more active.

The results come at a time when United States is fighting obesity, a major problem haunting young American children. A body mass index above 30 is considered to be obese. According to American Obesity Association, about 30.4 percent of teenagers are overweight and 15.5 percent of teens are obese.