TV makes children grow up big and not so strong
Published: 7/25/2012 11:38 AM
Last Modified: 7/25/2012 11:38 AM
The average toddler spends nine to 15 hours a week in front of the electronic babysitter, which comes back to haunt them later with larger waistlines. TULSA WORLD/file
Yes, and kids who go swimming are more likely to get wet. Some things really don’t need scientific confirmation.
But this new study does raise an interesting question: What exactly does it mean to “watch” TV?
The University of Montreal studied more than 1,300 children from across Quebec and found a direct correlation between how much TV they watched as toddlers and how big their waistlines grew in elementary school.
The average 2-year-old watched nearly nine hours of television per week, increasing to 15 hours a week by age 4.
Really? I can barely get my kid to sit still for 15 minutes a week, much less watch 15 hours of TV.
Then again, we do tend to turn on the TV as soon as we get up in the morning, and again as soon as we get home in the evening, using it mostly as background noise, not necessarily paying attention to what’s on.
So yes, my son is probably around a TV for at least 15 hours a week, but does that count as “watching?”
I don’t know. But maybe it’s time to try Mozart as background noise instead.
Read more about the Montreal study: HERE.
Written by
Michael Overall
Staff Writer
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