NEW ZEALAND: Millions of children and teenagers could be damaging their health by watching too much television, a new study showed today.
Those who sat in front of the TV for more than two hours a day were at higher risk of smoking, gaining excess weight, and having high cholesterol as adults. Their cardiovascular fitness - a measure of how well the heart is working - was also more likely to be poor at the age of 26.
Scientists in New Zealand who carried out the study urged parents to limit their children's TV viewing to no more than one to two hours a day. Ideally, youngsters should be rationed to less than an hour a day, they said. An expert said the results strengthened the case for a ban on food advertisements aimed at children. The study by the University of Otago, New Zealand, involved about 1,000 children born in 1972 and 1973.
They were followed up at various intervals until early adulthood. During this time, parents provided details of weekly television viewing.
At the age of 26, assessments were made of participants' body mass index (BMI) - a measurement relating height and weight - blood pressure, cholesterol, and cardiovascular fitness.
Writing in the Lancet medical journal, the researchers said a clear link was found between extensive TV viewing and a range of heightened health risks.
They estimated that among 26-year-olds, 17 per cent of being overweight, 15 per cent of raised blood cholesterol, 17 per cent of smoking and 15 per cent of poor cardiovascular fitness could be attributed to watching television for more than two hours a day during childhood and adolescence.