Exercise could earn kids TV time

Children could earn their TV-watching time by doing exercise if a new gadget takes off.

The gadget - called Square-eyes - is placed inside a shoe and records the amount of steps the wearer has taken during a single day.

The information is sent to a device connected to the TV, which calculates how long the child can switch on for.

The TV switches itself off as soon as the time earned runs out. The gadget was made by university students.

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"Square-eyes will help children to include exercise in their daily routine from an early age," said one of the designers from west London's Brunel University.

Target

The technology aims to get girls doing 12,000 steps a day, with the target for boys being 15,000 steps a day.

It's the latest bid to tackle rising child obesity rates in the UK. In 1995, 9.9% of two to 10-year-olds were obese. By 2003, the figure had risen to 13.7%.