Using body mass index (BMI) measurements as the standard for determining obesity, 18% of children in the study released today were found to be obese; however, only 14.3% of 4-year-olds were found to be obese in households that practiced all three of the studied routines, compared with almost one in four (24.5%) of those living in households without any of these routines. (Calculate your child's BMI here.)

The findings suggest that adopting these three household routines could be an attractive obesity-prevention strategy for all families with young children, especially because they may benefit children's overall development. They also suggest that in households practicing none of these routines, adopting just one could lower a child's risk of becoming obese, and having two or three was more protective than just one. However, researchers cautioned that this study alone does not confirm whether the routines themselves, or some other factor, protect children from obesity.

"I imagine people are going to want to know which of the routines is most important: Is it limited TV, is it dinner, is it adequate sleep? And what this suggests is that you can't point to any one of these routines. Each one appears to be associated with a lower risk of obesity, and having more of these routines appears to lower the risk further," reports Sarah Anderson, PhD, a researcher at The Ohio State University College of Public Health who led the study.

Surprisingly, the three factors were seen to be associated with lower occurrence of obesity even in children who were already at higher risk based on other aspects of their lives, including having a mother that is obese, household income that is below poverty level, having a mother that did not complete high school, and growing up in a single-parent home. On the other hand, some children were obese even when families practiced all three routines -- a reminder that research based on large populations does not necessarily apply to every individual case.

Anderson said the research suggests that an approach to obesity prevention that emphasizes these routines might be more easily acceptable to both parents and pediatricians, because adopting these practices could enhance child well-being without a need to focus entirely on weight. She also cautions that parents should talk to their child's doctor if they're worried about their child's weight.

This study was funded by the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service.

Related: Preventing Childhood Obesity