This was revealed in a study by the Department of Studies in Food Sciences and Nutrition, University of Mysore, who were in Panjab University for the third Inter-Congress of Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists (INCAA), organised by the Department of Anthropology.

The study by M Komala and Rudramma stated that television is an environmental risk factor for childhood obesity.

The study was conducted on 248 children in the age group of 6 to 8 years, studying in class I to III in Mysore. The results revealed that 7.3 per cent children were obese and 9.3 per cent were overweight.

A plenary session was also organised where Professor R K Jain and Professor R K Mutatkar, INCAA vice-presidents, delivered lectures on the themes related to Indian Diaspora and socio-anthropological perspective of environment.

The session was chaired by Professor A K Danda, member secretary, INCAA.

Six parallel sessions, three on biological aspect of the issue and others on the cultural aspect were also held, In the second set of parallel sessions, issues related to human health, disease, health services and human ecology were deliberated upon.