|
 Over the course of 32 years, researchers from University College
London monitored the television-viewing habits of 9,842 people born
in 1970 in England, Scotland and Wales, from when they were 10 years
old until they were 42.
At the start of the study, parents reported whether their
10-year-olds watched TV never, sometimes, or often.
Of the 1,546 participants who reported watching more than three
hours of TV a day at age 42, nearly 83 percent had watched
television often at age 10, the researchers report in the Journal of
Epidemiology & Community Health.
The study also found that people who watched more than three hours a
day of television in middle age were more likely to be in fair or
poor health and to have had a father in a lower occupational class.
The study examined the habits of children who were 10 years old in
1980 – before smartphones, tablets, computers and videogames had
begun to infiltrate kids’ lives, noted Christina Calamaro. She has
studied the effect of technology on children at the Nemours Alfred
I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware but was not involved in
the current research.
“Once more, this affirms the importance of parental healthy
behaviors, and it really does point to the need for early
intervention, particularly in families with lower socioeconomic
status that may not have access to safe playgrounds, a safe
environment where children can go out and play and even healthy
supermarkets,” she told Reuters Health.
“It’s really important to teach healthy lifestyles early on, from
preschool to programs in the schools to every time that child walks
into the healthcare office. Sometimes that message does turn that
light bulb on for a father or mother or child to say, let’s talk
about healthy living,” she said.
Study leader Lee Smith told Reuters Health by email that his
findings support the case for early life interventions to prevent
sedentary behavior, which can result from television viewing, in
later life.
Prior research has shown that how parents monitor their children’s
screen time is tied to the kids’ academic performance, their
relationships with peers and their weight (see Reuters Health story
of March 31, 2014 here: http://reut.rs/1mIT9rA).
[to top of second column] |
Earlier studies have also shown that children who spend much of
their time staring at screens - especially televisions, which
require no hands to operate – tend to gain more weight as they age
(see Reuters Health story of November 25, 2013 here: http://reut.rs/1pJXfBP).
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children above
age two be exposed to no more than two hours of television and
computer screens a day. Researchers have found children frequently
exceed the recommendation.
Studies have tied increased screen time to a number of problems in
children, including excessive weight gain as well as poor sleep and
school performance.
A growing body of research shows that prolonged sedentary behavior
is detrimental to the health of adults, even physically active
adults, the authors write. Earlier studies have associated TV
viewing with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular
disease and death from all causes, the study says.
The current study shows that adults tend to mirror their childhood
activities, Calamaro said. But, she said, the patterns can be
broken.
“It’s important to know that family and where we grow up will affect
our life later on,” she said. “But you can turn off the television
and go outside and be active, and that’s what people need to
choose.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1pBXsHg Journal of Epidemiology & Community
Health, online August 21, 2014.
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
