Too Much TV and Web harms children's health
Every time my son mentioned what he wants for Christmas, it included video games at the top of his list.
How can something that is so bad for our kids, be such a draw for them at the same time? I don't know about you, but I have to physically redirect my kids away from the TV, video games, and website fun. It's difficult because there are so many seemingly fun options out there with these activities. But, recent studies find that spending a lot of time watching TV, playing video games and surfing the Web makes children more prone to a range of health problems including obesity and smoking.
The studies, most conducted in the United States, largely focused on television, but some looked at video games, films, music, and computer and Internet use. Three quarters of them found that increased media viewing was associated with negative health outcomes.
The studies offered strong evidence that children who get more media exposure are more likely to become obese, start smoking and begin earlier sexual activity than those who spend less time in front of a screen, the researchers said.
Studies also indicated more media exposure also was linked to drug and alcohol use and poorer school performance, while the evidence was less clear about an association with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, they added.
One study cited in the report found that children who spent more than eight hours watching TV per week at age 3 were more likely to be obese at 7. And research shows that many U.S. children, even toddlers, watch far more.
Source: www.msnbc.msn.com
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Nicolette
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Extremely interesting and valuable. Thank you for posting this article. Too much of anything is not good. We use TV, online games as a reward (AFTER the chores are done). My son especially likes to play online games. He would spend every breathing second online gaming World of Warcraft, if we would not limit his time spent online. Hopefuly, we built a simple Iternet Timer Timer http://www.internettimer.net With the help of this tool I can restrict and set times when the computer can be accessed and my son has no choice than to accept the rules. And I trink children who spent more time on the Internet, playing games spent less time socializing, communicated less within the family and felt more lonely and depressed. |
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