A recent study about children and asthma became the motivation for a humorous post over at TV Squad.

The study suggested that kids who watched television for more than two hours per day rather than spending that time out playing outside are twice as likely to develop asthma.

As you probably guessed, it has nothing to do with watching television and everything to do with exercise and avoiding being a couch potato.  But these facts are generally not explained nearly as well as the “nugget” the researchers like to throw out there to get their little study some attention.

Bob Sassone, at TV Squad, wrote this in response:

“It’s official: reading books gives your children asthma. … So wait a second, if it’s not the act of watching TV that does this, doesn’t that mean that anything that doesn’t have you moving would cause asthma, including reading classic novels and encyclopedias on your bed? Or sleeping? Or playing a board game with your mom?”

A spokesman for an asthma-related charity even acknowledges that it’s all about being active:

“The findings add to a wealth of evidence linking a lack of exercise and being overweight with an increased risk of asthma, but this study is the first to directly link sedentary behaviour at a very young age to a higher risk of asthma later in childhood.”

So what about the kids who spend two hours a day watching television as they’re playing Wii Fit and dancing around like little fools? Clearly, they’re not being couch potatoes, but they are in front of a television. What would the future hold for them?

It reminds me of a study that came up with the “shocking” news that there was a link between drinking diet soda and being overweight.  In fact, according to the study, the more diet soda a person drank, the more overweight he was likely to be.

A researcher added this bit of common sense:

“One possible part of the explanation is that people who see they are beginning to gain weight may be more likely to switch from regular to diet soda.”

There’s a thought!

It’s also possible, according to the study, that people who are drinking diet soda figure they’re saving on calorie consumption so it’s “okay” to have that dessert.

Some studies, researchers say, actually suggest that diet drinks stimulate a desire for more calories, because the body “knows” it is being “cheated” out of the calories that are missing from the soft drinks.  But there’s absolutely nothing in this study that makes this point clear, so to suggest that drinking diet soda might “make” you fat has no merit.

These studies can help once in a while, particularly if you take the time to think about the bigger point that the numbers can so easily diguise.  If you’re not willing to look beyond the headlines, then you should probably take the results with a grain of salt.

Unless you’re worried about the problems salt will cause you.