Advice that your granny gave might prove useful, especially for kids. Following old beliefs that include eating at home, getting good amount of sleep and not watching too much TV would ensure that your child does not get obese.

Researchers in Ohio studied a data collected from several children who were four years old to see if old-time habits actually lowered the risk of obesity.

Dr Sarah Anderson (PhD), assistant professor of epidemiology at Ohio State University and lead author of the study said, "Children living in households where they regularly ate dinner as a family, got enough sleep at night, and were limited in their daily TV viewing were 40 per cent less likely to be obese compared to children who had none of these household routines."

The study was conducted on about 8,550 four-year-old children who were enrolled in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study in the U. S. and out of these kids 18 per cent of the children were obese.

These habits not only did good to physical condition of children but also made them emotionally strong.