摘要：
    美国研究人员公布的一项研究结果显示，那些经常到户外锻炼身体的青少年较之常常待在家里看电视的同龄人， 前者染上吸烟、酗酒以及其它一些不良习惯的可能性要明显小于后者。
    Teenagers who are physically active in any way are less likely than their TV-watching peers to smoke, drink or take other health risks, a new study suggests.

    美国研究人员公布的一项研究结果显示，那些经常到户外锻炼身体的青少年较之常常待在家里看电视的同龄人， 前者染上吸烟、酗酒以及其它一些不良习惯的可能性要明显小于后者。

    据路透社4月5日报道，此项研究是由美国的北卡罗来纳大学的研究人员组织完成的，研究对象为将近1.2万名初、高中学生。研究报告已经刊登在最近一期的《儿科医学》杂志上。

    研究发现，与那些将大部分闲暇时光花在看电视上的同龄人相比，活泼好动的青少年通常拥有更强的自豪感，更为优异的学业成绩，同时也更不容易出现诸如吸毒、吸烟、酗酒以及与他人发生性关系等危险行为。研究报告作者之一的彭妮·戈登·拉尔森博士说：“总的来说，无论具体参加的是哪一项运动，那些爱玩的孩子们的健康状况的确要好于总是坐在电视机前的同伴。”

    此前，曾有其它一些研究将电视中播放的某些内容，诸如暴力与色情等同青少年的不良行为联系起来。但戈登·拉尔森在接受路透社记者采访时指出，来自电视的影响其实远不止上述这些，那些长时间看电视的孩子们一般没有多少机会去参加各种社会活动，发展多种技巧，学会与他人同心协力完成某一项工作以及尝试拥有其它一些体验，而那些“活蹦乱跳”的同龄人则可以从上述活动中受益更多。

    当然，这也并不意味着孩子们必须在课余时间加入到某支足球队中。研究结果显示，诸如轮滑或滑板等有时会令成年人皱眉头的“另类”运动同样可以带给孩子们更多的自豪感与更低的染上坏习惯的可能性。按照拉尔森的说法，轮滑比看电视更有利于青少年健康成长这一结论可能会让某些成年人大吃一惊，因为他们总是将喜爱轮滑的孩子们视做调皮捣蛋者。目前，美国很多公共场所都禁止人们玩滑板，而一些社区也反对在当地修建滑轮公园。

    拉尔森还指出，不仅父母们应当鼓励自己的孩子积极投身于其所喜爱的各项运动之中，而且学校和社区也应该努力为孩子们创造更多的活动机会。在其它一些同类研究中人们发现，那些与自己的父母一起参加运动的孩子们会比同年龄的“电视爱好者”更不容易沾染上从酗酒、吸毒到青少年犯罪在内的一系列不良行为。研究人员则在该报告中表示，本次研究进一步强调了父母在其子女的健身运动中所充当角色的重要性，同时也指出了如果父母不陪孩子玩可能会带来的负面影响。

    Teenagers who are physically active in any way are less likely than their TV-watching peers to smoke, drink or take other health risks, a new study suggests.

    Researchers found that compared with teens who spent much of their free time in front of the TV, those who were active often had higher self-esteem, better grades and were less prone to risky behavior like taking drugs, smoking, drinking or having sex.

    The findings, based on a national survey of nearly 12,000 middle and high school students, are published in the journal Pediatrics.

    "Across the board, children who engaged in any kind of activity were better off than kids who watched a lot of TV," said study co-author Dr. Penny Gordon-Larsen of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

    Other studies have linked certain content of television programs, such as violence and sex, to children's behavior. But beyond this issue, Gordon-Larsen told Reuters Health, kids who spend hours watching TV "miss opportunities" to socialize, develop skills, learn teamwork and have other experiences that their more active peers benefit from.

    That doesn't mean, however, that kids have to be on the football team. The study found that "alternative" activities like skating and skateboarding -- which adults sometimes frown upon -- were also related to better self-esteem and less risk-taking.

    That skaters were better behaved than TV watchers might come as a surprise to some adults who see these teens as a nuisance, according to Gordon-Larsen. Skateboarding is banned in many public areas, and some communities oppose building skating parks.

    But if kids who like to skate have nowhere to do it, "it's a shame," said Gordon-Larsen.

    Not only should parents encourage their kids to engage in the physical activities they enjoy, she said, but schools and communities should also do more to create opportunities for children to be active.

    In other findings, teenagers who played sports with their parents were less likely than TV lovers to engage in any of the behaviors the study considered -- from drinking and drug use to delinquency.

    This finding, write the study authors, underscores the "important role" parents play in their children's activities, or lack thereof.

    Overall, Gordon-Larsen said, the study results also highlight the fact that exercise is not only about weight control. "This study makes clear that there are other benefits as well," she said.

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