Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that too many kids are on the couch instead of playing outside — 25% of children watch 4 or more hours of TV per day.

The study found that numbers for minority children were even higher. Dr. Michael Rich suggests this may be due to worried parents keeping their children indoors, rather than outside in unsafe neighborhoods, “so kids who would even ten years ago have gone out and played basketball down at the corner playground are not.”

The study also showed that teen girls became more sedentary as they got older. Dr. Rich commented “in the mid to late teens, peer acceptance for boys is predicated on athletic prowess, while for girls, the emphasis is on being lady-like.”