Percent of overweight teens in the United States 30
Percent of obese teens 16
Average hours per week a child 2-17 spends watching TV 19
Percent of children under 16 who play video games on a daily basis 61
Amount of time per day the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for exercise 1 hour
Percent of young people who report having no recent physical activity 14
Number of households with video game consoles 45.7 million
Number of video game and Internet treatment programs supported by the South Korean government 40
Average age of video game player in the U.S. 33
Percentage of female video game players 38
Average salary for a video game designer $73,000
Percentage of teens that like to play the villain in video games 62
Average number of hours of game-play in Nintendo's Final Fantasy XII 100
Amount of time it takes to run the 26-mile New York City Marathon 4:45:29
Sources: American Obesity Association, Nielsen Media Research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Entertainment Software Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, BusinessWeek, Nintendo, Marathonguide.com.
Read about a novel idea to prevent teen obesity that's being tested at USF.
This article appears in May 16-22, 2007.
