Tuned In and at Risk : Too Much Time in Front of the Tube Is Not Only Bad for Kids’ Minds, Experts Say, but Is Ruining Their Health
It’s 4 p.m., and it’s been a bad kid day. So, you do what the children want: Flip on the television. Hand them the remote. And you head for the couch to lie down.
They spend the next two hours motionless, heads tilted back, eyes glazed, mouths slightly open.
This TV time is in addition to the hour they watched before school this morning and the hour they’ll watch this evening before bed.
It’s this syndrome, so common in American households, that has health experts up in arms.
Most of us have known intuitively for a long time that too much TV must be bad for children. After all, an electronic diet of mindless, violent cartoons, sprinkled heavily with commercials for mindless, violent toys and sugar-laden cereals, can’t do much for their intellectual development.
But in the last few years, fears have grown as evidence has piled up showing excessive television as among the greatest risks to children’s health.
Studies have found:
* Time spent watching TV is directly related to an increased risk of obesity. In one study, each additional hour of TV viewing among adolescents was associated with a 2% increase in the prevalence of obesity.
* Excessive TV viewing may be the single greatest predictor of high cholesterol in children.
* Children’s metabolism while watching “passive” TV shows may be even lower than when they are doing nothing--a state comparable to an animal hibernating, one researcher points out.
* Children who watch excessive TV may exhibit more aggressive behavior and may become sexually active and use alcohol at younger ages.
Although these studies are by no means the final word, enough startling data has emerged to raise serious concerns.
“Television is certainly a health risk,” says Dr. Victor Strasburger, a TV-health expert at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. “We can’t say every child who watches television five hours a day will be obese. But we know television represents the single biggest influence on kids that we can change easily.”
Television viewing by itself is not the problem, experts point out.
“The problem is that the more TV viewing, the less physically active and the more unhealthful foods the child is likely to eat as well,” says Dr. Nathan Wong of UC Irvine, co-author of a study on children’s cholesterol levels and TV habits.
Television has long been considered a suspect as obesity among children has risen dramatically in the last 15 years. In that time, obesity has increased 54% among children ages 6 to 11, so that 25% of all children in the United States are now obese.
During roughly the same period, television viewing among 2- to 11-year-olds decreased slightly, from 25 hours a week in 1975 to about 22 1/2 hours in 1990, according to Nielsen Media Research. But those 22 hours are still far more viewing than experts advise.
Among toddlers, 30 to 60 minutes a day should be the limit, while school-age children should not watch more than one to two hours a day, including videos and video games, Strasburger says.
The connection between obesity and heavy TV viewing is thought to stem from the cycle of snacking and sitting passively. But a study in the February issue of the medical journal Pediatrics suggests another cause: very low metabolism.
The study, performed at Memphis State University, shows that children who watched TV had resting energy expenditures “lower than if they were doing nothing at all.”
Obesity is not the only health problem strongly associated with excessive TV viewing.
The risk of higher cholesterol levels, which can lead to heart disease later in life, rises with the hours spent before the television, experts say. A study by UC Irvine researchers published last year found that the amount of time kids watched TV was the best predictor of high cholesterol levels, more reliable than a family history of high cholesterol or heart problems.
Doctors usually rely on family history as a tip-off to whether they should monitor certain children for high cholesterol. But “How many hours of television does your child watch?” may be a more relevant question, say researchers.
“I always ask about television habits,” says Dr. Barbara Korsch, a pediatrician and behavior specialist at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. “You have to ask about what they are watching on TV.”
What kids watch is important for two reasons, experts say: Passive shows, the majority by far, are generally considered much less healthy for young children than interactive television--shows that invite children to sing, dance, move around. And some children’s programming, particularly on network television, is sandwiched between ads for relatively unhealthy foods, such as cereals and snack foods.
“The shows that are OK for kids to watch are interactive; they are involving. There is a whole lot of get-up-and-dance-and-move-around,” says Diana Huss Green, editor-in-chief of Parents’ Choice, a nonprofit organization that publishes a guide for parents on children’s shows, tapes, books and music.
But interactive shows--like “Sesame Street” and “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along,” both on PBS--are usually targeted for preschoolers. There is less interactive programming for older kids.
Among children’s health activists, commercials for snack foods have come under intense criticism in recent years. The American Academy of Pediatrics has even argued that the Federal Communications Commission should ban food advertising aimed at children.
According to studies, 82% of ads on kids’ programs feature food, contrasted with 25% on adults’ programs. And according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, 80% of those commercials are for products with low nutritional value.
Although the reasons to strictly curtail TV viewing for the sake of your child’s health are plentiful, alternatives to TV are not.
Cheryl, a mother from Orange who asked that her full name not be used, rues the day she set up a TV and VCR in the bedroom of little Kimberly, then 3. The entire family has weight problems, and Kimberly, now 5, is no exception. And although the TV is surely not the sole cause of the child’s obesity, it definitely hasn’t helped matters, Cheryl says.
“I try to get her to go outside and play, but she’s so used to watching her favorite videos,” the exasperated mother says.
In such situations, parents can take two approaches, experts reason: First, if the children are babies, parents can get them accustomed to a limit on TV.
“We need to counsel parents of 1-year-olds that if you start limiting TV, then it’s not such a battle when they are 4 or 5,” says Strasburger.
If the children are older and already hooked, parents can begin reducing viewing time slowly (see accompanying box). One way to limit TV is to be choosy about what kids watch, experts say. Avoid shows heavy with violence and sex or those that glamorize crime, drinking or drug use.
“I’m not anti-TV,” Strasburger says. “My concern stems from the fact that I have a tremendous respect for TV as a teacher. The tragedy of American TV is that so little of it is healthy for kids. And yet we could be producing very healthy TV for kids.”
How to Unplug Your Kid How to wean your kids from TV:
* Don’t demand a sudden end to TV watching.
* Set limits. One hour on school nights and two to three hours a day on weekends is OK.
* Be honest. If you want to watch a program but won’t allow your children to watch it, tell them your reasons for this.
* Be a good role model. Children won’t necessarily believe you when you say you walked two miles to school each day when you were a child. But taking family walks “for exercise” will send a positive message. Or, while your child does homework, set a good example by reading a book or exercising.
* Turn the TV off when no one is watching it, especially during mealtime. Get used to the sound of the house without the TV on.
* Plan in advance on what your children are allowed to watch and when. No channel flipping. Your child should seek your permission to watch something not on the accepted list or that is beyond the time limits you’ve set.
* Watch TV with your kids to offset messages that you don’t like or material that will confuse or frighten.
* Use baby-sitters who will adhere to your rules regarding TV.
* Try to get your child involved in an after-school or Saturday-morning hobby or club.
* Make sure your children have at least three 20-minute periods each week of activity that raises the heart rate enough that they sweat.
* Try a reward system, such as no-TV-today coupons that can be redeemed for rewards.
* If you use a reward system--or take TV privileges away as a form of punishment--be aware that this approach can backfire and elevate TV watching to something very important in the child’s eyes.
