Two recent articles published by The National Post and USA Today focused on the negative effects watching television can have on kids.
The National Post article specifically honed in on the effects of eating meals in front of the TV and why that has a link to overweight children.
Dr. Catherine Birken, a pediatrician and researcher at Toronto's hospital for sick children, found that counseling parents on effects of TV-watching hasn't yet proven to be effective, but what they are discovering is that there are some positive effects stemming from not allowing kids to eat in-front of the TV.
When being distracted by other factors while eating, it often causes us to lose track of what we are consuming and how much. Sometimes a TV is put on in a home to distract kids while their parents are doing other things around the house, and if that is combined with food then there is no supervision over what is being consumed potentially leading to overeating.
The study published by USA Today proves that TV doesn't just have an effect on physical health. The study concluded that there was a link between number of hours of television watched and lower-attention during playtime, low-quality interactions between parents and children, and lower performance on cognitive activities.
Both of these articles just prove that children's health has so many facets and can be so easily influenced due to their young age. Television exposure is an easy aspect to fix and alter so there just needs to be that realization and change of action because of that realization.
This is really interesting! I remember learning in my Media Effects class that in addition to decreasing physical activity and increasing junk-food consumption, the ads alone may contribute to child obesity. For example, when was the last time that you saw an ad for apples? It's probably been awhile! But if you think about the last time you saw an ad for a Big Mac, that may be quite recent! If you also consider that McDonald's ads actually show the toys that accompany a Happy Meal, it's clear that those ads are geared toward kids. Limiting TV time is ALWAYS a smart decision, but talking about nutrition when those fast food ads come on can also help children make healthy choices!
ReplyDeleteI like this subject because it is relevant to college students as well as children. I feel that there are many times a day where I will be eating something while on the computer doing research at home. In this time, I will not be paying attention to how much I am eating.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how easy this is to do and it can be fairly easy to fix as well. Making it a rule or goal to eat at the table after putting a portion onto a plate, instead of eating out of a bag, could be something to consider!
Alex, I think what you said is also very insightful and true.