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By Leslie Davis
If you have finally consented to letting your child have a TV in their bedroom, you may want to reconsider. A recent study examining the link between blood pressure in children and their choice of inactive pastimes discovered that TV viewing leads to significantly higher blood pressure in children compared to reading and using the computer.
The study, published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, observed 111 children ages 3 to 8 and discovered that the more TV children watched, the higher their blood pressure. Children who spent more than half an hour a day watching TV had blood pressure levels five to seven points higher than those children who watched less than half an hour of TV. That was true whether the child was at a healthy weight or heavy.
“These results show that sedentary behavior, and more specifically television-viewing, is related to blood pressure independent of body fat or obesity level,” said Dr. Joey Eisenmann, a kinesiologist at Michigan State University and a co-author of the study.
The reason why all sedentary activities don’t have the same effect is unclear. The study posits that, when watching TV, children tend to eat more junk food than they would if their hands are busy on the computer or holding a book. The craving for high-calorie junk food may also be a result of watching TV, which exposes children to commercials that market unhealthy foods to them at an age when they are establishing eating habits.
Children who watch TV right before going to bed may also miss out on needed sleep, which can lead to higher blood pressure and weight gain. The study suggested that TV can lull children into a hypnotic state, creating a metabolic rate that falls even below that of sleeping.
Limiting TV in Your Home
Your child should be limited to no more than two hours of TV a day, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition to higher blood pressure, too much TV watching can lead to behavioral problems, poor academic performance, obesity and less creativity.
The only way to decrease the amount of TV your children watch is to limit it yourself. Your children are not going to voluntarily give up their time in front of the TV. Here are some suggestions for limiting teens’ TV time:
• Limit what they watch. Only allow your children to watch their favorite program at night, and not flip aimlessly just to have something to watch. Limit it to one hour-long show or two half-hour episodes.
• Make homework the priority. Make sure your children are completing their homework before zoning out in front of the TV. By doing that, your children will view TV more as a reward for finishing what they actually needed to get done and will be more selective about what they watch.
• Limit TVs. Keep only one TV in the household, and keep it in a common area. It is easier for you to control the amount of TV that can be watched when your children aren’t locked in their rooms.
• Have a no-TV policy. Don’t allow your children to have TVs in their room. They may put up some resistance, but remember that it is OK to let your children be bored in their rooms. It allows them to take up more creative hobbies or read books.
• Schedule more family time. Use the time that your children would be watching TV to participate in a family activity like taking a walk, making dessert or playing a board game. You’d be surprised at how much extra time you’ll have with your kids when they aren’t watching TV.
• Set a good example for your children. If you are constantly sitting in front of the TV when you get home from work, your kids will too. Make a point to limit the amount of TV you are watching, and your children will model that behavior.
• Don’t watch TV while eating meals. Sit around the dining room table and spend time talking to your children about their day instead. The conversation may be so engaging that they forget about watching TV entirely.
