It's mostly known that spending too much time watching TV as a kid could have negative implications when a person becomes an adult, but most people still don't know the specific effects of excessively watching TV. However, research suggests that cardiovascular and metabolic health could be at stake.
Bad Effects of Too Much TV Time
According to Newsweek, the average screentime for young individuals aged 8 to 18 on a daily basis is 4.5 hours. This could lead to a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet, which could result in other problems.
The CDC says that due in large to that sedentary lifestyle and poor diet, in the US, 1 in 5 kids are obese. This might not be the only risk related to too much screen time as new research suggests that there could be other implications.
On July 24, a study was published regarding metabolic and cardiovascular implications that could arise from excessive screentime, especially in young individuals. The study was published in the Pediatrics journal, where it highlights the long-term impacts of too much TV during childhood.
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Direct Health Implications
The University of Otago in New Zealand has long been studying TV habits and their health effects on about 1,000 people since the 1970s. These individuals were studied since they were newborns up until they reached their 40s and 50s.
The TV habits of these participants were monitored throughout their childhood and even stretching into their teenage years. Out of the 997 participants that remained, when they turned 45, they were again tested to better understand their health.
The study involved testing for different markers including high waist circumference, poor blood sugar regulation, high levels of fat and bad cholesterol, and high blood pressure. This was to determine the participants' metabolic health.
Should the participants display two or more of the risk factors, they were then said to have had a metabolic syndrome, which could increase health risks. The more factors the participants had, the more prone they were to heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and stroke.
Effects of High Levels of TV Consumption
The study found that a higher risk of mid-adult metabolic syndrome could be associated with high levels of TV consumption. The particular effects that the study found were having lower cardiorespiratory fitness, higher body weight, and higher blood pressure.
The study did suggest that there could've been a period that had more influence on the participants' health, especially during their childhood and adolescence. This comes as the participants could've cut their viewing time during certain periods.
Newsweek reports that further studies are needed to better understand whether metabolic syndrome later in life is really caused by childhood screen time. If not, this would then just be considered a correlation.
Children aged 5 and up should only use less than 2 hours of screen time according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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