Food TV a recipe for weight gain.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

If you are a fan of food television, it is fine to be entertained by the programming but, if you take the rich recipes favored by these networks into your own kitchen, you are at risk of putting on pounds, according to a study published by the journal Appetite.

'The message is clear: food TV should be a viewing experience only, not a cooking experience," asserts lead author Lizzy Pope, assistant professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Vermont, Burlington.

Women who watch food TV and cook frequently from scratch have a higher body mass index, or BMI-weighing, on average, 11 more pounds --than those who obtain information from sources like family and friends, magazines and newspapers, or cooking classes. Those who frequently cook from scratch but do not watch food TV also do not have higher BMIs. Significantly, women who...