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Health & Fitness

123GoTV Has Kids Watching TV and Exercising

Kids are putting on excessive weight with too much time spent in front of the TV, video games and the internet. These all add to the non active lives of our youth, but finally there is an answer.

The sad news is that the percentage of overweight children and adolescents in the US has nearly tripled since the early 1970’s. There are now one in five children between the ages of 6 and 17 that are now considered overweight.

With childhood obesity, there is a direct link to diabetes, high blood pressure, depression, anxiety and poor academic performance. So kids like to bike, kids like to watch TV, but can time-challenged youngsters engage in both and stay fit?

A concerned mother and successful businesswoman has solved this dilemma for busy youngsters and parents. It's as easy as 123GoTV, a pioneering invention that links fitness and fun and right in their living rooms.

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Margie Mullen, CEO and President of KidExerciser, Inc., launched 123GoTV, a high-tech mix of entertainment and exercise, where kids get to enjoy two of their favorite pastimes—watching television and bike riding. It's as simple as kids pedaling their cycle in front of a TV set.

“My son likes to bike, and he loves to watch TV,” Mullen says. “We often found ourselves saying, ‘Ride your bike outside when the sun is shining, and then you can view TV later. Daily exercise for youngsters is a crucial part of a child’s life, but it should be fun, as well.” 

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Like all great inventions, Mullen’s innovation is simple. The bicycle trainer lifts the rear wheel of a child’s bike, allowing freewheeling in a stationary position. When a youngster pedals, a radio frequency from a transmitter and generator work synergistically to send an OK signal to a receiver attached to the TV set. Fitness is rewarded at every turn of the pedal. Hit the brakes and the show goes on hold.

Active children have stronger bones and muscles and leaner bodies, reports blogs like kidshealth.org, but the Kaiser Family Foundation says that youngsters ages 8 to 18 spend four hours a day watching some form of passive screen time, whether its TV shows, video games, or social networking on their compute.

The Physical Activity Guidelines for America recommend at least one hour of daily exercise for children and teenagers. That’s a snap for 123GoTVers, especially when some 80 percent of adolescents in this country don’t meet those exercise guidelines.

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