Tablets make you fat!

Teens glued to their tablet, smartphone or computer for hours on end may be more likely to become obese, a new study suggests.

Those who used screen devices for five or more hours daily were twice as likely to drink more sugary beverages and engage in too little physical activity, the researchers found.

As a result, these teens showed a 43 percent increased risk of obesity compared with kids who don’t use smartphones or tablets at all. But the study did not prove that high use of these technologies caused obesity risk to rise.

“Parents should be cautious with their kids in terms of how much they’re using these devices, especially if you see your child on them several hours a day,” said study lead author Erica Kenney. “It is something to keep an eye on and be concerned about, because it could be having an effect on their health.”

Kids using a screen device for that amount of time is not that uncommon, Kenney, a research fellow with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and her co-author found.