FIGURE 9.10 American idle: Couch potatoes beware—TV watching correlates with obesity As lifestyles have become less active and TV watching has increased, so has the percentage of overweight people in Britain, Canada, and the United States (Pagani et al., 2010). When California children were placed in a TV-reduction educational program, they watched less—and lost weight (Robinson, 1999). Don’t watch TV? Then watch out for other screen time that keeps your motor idling.