14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific investigation has demonstrated that children who spend more than two hours watching TV or using their computers are at increased risk of suffering from psychological difficulties.
The correlation was found to hold true regardless of whether the kids were physically active or not. The situation was also found to get worse the longer the young ones spent in from of the computer or TV.
More than 1,000 children aged 10 to 11 were studied as part of the PEACH project. The lead author of the research effort was Dr Angie Page, who is based at the University of Bristol Center for Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences.
All the test participants were asked in surveys how long they spent in front of a computer screen, and then also about their psychological well being. The scientists who conducted the work then correlated the two.
The kids also had to wear an activity monitor, which is a device capable of measuring when they were sedentary, and when they were engaged in physical activity.
One of the main conclusions in the new investigation is that the longer the children spent in front of the TV, or using the computer, they higher they scored on psychological difficulty tests.
Full details of the new investigation appear in the November issue of the esteemed scientific journal Pediatrics, the UB team reports.
The new research has important conclusions for parents, who may want to ensure their kids' future health and well-being by limiting the amount of time the young ones spent in front of a computer.
“Whilst low levels of screen viewing may not be problematic, we cannot rely on physical activity to 'compensate' for long hours of screen viewing,” says Dr Angie Page.
“Watching TV or playing computer games for more than two hours a day is related to greater psychological difficulties irrespective of how active children are,” the lead author goes on to say.
Funding for the new investigation came from the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF UK) and the National Prevention Research Initiative.
Previous investigations have also yielded similar results, with scientists showing that excessive exposure to TV and computers is linked to a poorer health condition overall.
The results were more substantial as the children's age decreased. In other words, older kids, such as teens, tended to suffer less negative effects from this type of exposure.