UAE | Health
Study links media exposure to negative health issues
Children should watch less TV and movies and parents should supervise them more, according to an analysis that links media exposure to negative health issues among children and adolescents.
- By Nina Muslim, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:46 December 5, 2008
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Dubai: Children should watch less TV and movies and parents should supervise them more, according to an analysis that links media exposure to negative health issues among children and adolescents.
The analysis titled "Media and Child and Adolescent Health: A Systematic Review" was conducted by the Yale University School of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health and the California Pacific Medical Centre. It reviewed 173 studies conducted in the last 28 years and found that the more children watch TV and movies, the more likely they are to be obese, use tobacco and drugs or suffer from developmental disorders.
Dr Alya Ahmad, head of paediatrics and spokesperson for the incoming Dubai Chapter of the American Academy of Paediatrics, told Gulf News parents should take heed of the findings.
"Television is more commonly an electronic babysitter in the UAE than in many other countries because people are complacent and feel it is [safe] to let their kids watch whatever they want," she said.
"[In terms of obesity] previous studies have shown children eat more while they are watching television," she added.
The review found that 86 per cent of 73 studies linked increased screen time with obesity.
The UAE is struggling with a childhood obesity epidemic, as more than one in 10 children here are obese, according to a 2005 World Health Organisation survey. In addition, 21.3 per cent were then at risk of becoming obese.
The survey also found 25.7 per cent of students said their parents or guardians did not know what they did in their free time.
Dr Alya said parental supervision was crucial to safeguarding the health of children.
"Children often adopt behaviours that they come into contact with. Kids don't have the same sense of consequence; they become apathetic when they see violent behaviour," she said.
"We always tell parents to watch TV with their kids and to say that what they see is not normal behaviour and that there are consequences," she added.
Passing the buck to older children to watch over their younger siblings was not a good idea either, as they are not mature enough to put everything they see on television or in movies into context, she contended.
Dr Alya suggested that parents pay attention to the ratings given to TV shows, movies and games.
She also said parents should not allow televisions or computers in their children's bedrooms, and limit the hours spent in front of the screen to fewer than 14 hours a week.
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