New research shows that playing computer games is bad for your teeth. (Among other things. sub.ed.)

New research, penned by Jordon Poss at the University of Iowa and presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Dental Research in Washington suggests snacking while playing computer and video games could be responsible for poor levels of oral health among young teenagers. The report said that gamers who spend substantial amounts of time at the screen are more than twice as likely to develop tooth decay and caries as those with more active lifestyles.

Apparently teens are more likely to snack on sugary foods while absorbed in computer games. It is estimated half of teenagers in the UK have a video console in their bedroom and 97 per cent of all teens play video games regularly. The study is one of the first to suggest dietary habits leading to decay are associated with screen activities and that computer games, if associated with increased snacking are associated with decay experience.

Kids who had parental rules regarding screen time and diet were less likely to eat or drink while watching television and playing video games than subjects without parental rules. Participants without structured eating patterns were more than a third more likely to have caries than subjects with structured patterns.