Untitled Document
 How
many hours do you spend in front of the TV or the
computer per day? You’ve probably heard “Turn off the television!”
or “Stop playing computer games!” so many times from your mom
or dad. However, you should listen to them and stop watching the screens
because there is a reason for it. Keep reading and find out why you should reduce the time spent in
front of televisions and computers!
A new study conducted by researchers from the University
of Bristol found that children who spend many hours each day in front of the
TV or computer screen have more psychological difficulties
than those who don’t.
Earlier this month, the researchers
studied 1,013 children in the U.K. between the ages of 10 and 11 to
see the influence of the television
and computer games on youngsters. The children
were asked to report their average daily hours spent watching
TV or playing on a computer. The researchers also monitored the children’s
physical activities by attaching a special device around the waist for seven days.
The researchers found that children who spent two hours or more a
day in front of the screens were more likely to have psychological
difficulties than the kids who did not spend a lot of time watching
TV or playing computer games.
 “If children
spend too much time in front of the television or computer, they are
likely to suffer from psychological
problems such as emotional issues and hyperactivity,” the researchers
explained. “To our surprise,
the negative impact of screen
time was not fixed by increasing a child’s physical activity levels.”
According to the researchers,
if you don’t reduce the amount of screen time, increasing physical
activities is not really helpful to your mental well-being. Previous studies have claimed that excessive use of electronic media is not a
big problem if children are physically active. However, the new
study showed that might not be true.
“Parents should limit their children’s computer
use and TV viewing time to help them
stay healthy both mentally
and physically,” the British researchers advised. The study was published
last Monday in the U.S. journal Pediatrics. |
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