Researchers agree that family dining (meaning families dining together) creates healthier family members. But lookout, a recent study showed the benefits of eating together as a family were negated if dinner was served in front of the television.

In other words, turn off the tube. April 23-29, 2007 in the U.S. is TV-Turnoff Week. I doubt advertisers are too excited about it, but you might be when you realize you can lose up to five pounds by trying this. If you can’t go cold-turkey then just try turning it off for dinner.

Weight loss is also accelerated by less TV watching simply because you’ll do less mindless eating. Think of how often you’ve eaten an entire dinner yet missed the experience because your attention was on the TV set? It’s no wonder we go back for seconds and thirds, and start eating snacks shortly after. We’re missing the joy of eating!

Visit the Center for Screen-Time Awareness for TV Turnoff Week.