Study: Two Hours of Television Per Day Is Enough to Double Children Obesity Risk
Another reason to keep your children from developing the TV habit:
Children who watch more than two hours of TV a day are twice as likely to be obese and suffer high blood pressure, say researchers.
A U.S. study found those glued to the screen for between two and four hours a day were 2.5 times more likely to have hypertension, which can lead to heart disease and stroke in later life.
That increased to 3.3 times the risk for children watching TV for four hours or more each day, says a report today in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
The study also found that children tended to be more seriously overweight the more time they spent watching TV.
There are fears that ‘couch potato’ children are not only physically inactive but also exposed to TV commercials selling high-fat and other junk foods.