The Negative Effects of Television on Children

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Ricardo F. August 10, 2014 English Comp. The negative effects of television on children Television watching creates a negative effect on children’s development and interaction. Television also affects children’s health and family interaction and growth. Parents should be informed about the risks of their children watching television irresponsibly, and parents should instill healthy habits in children about the content they watch and time spent in front of the TV. Television interferes with children’s physical activity; all over the world we see problems with children and overweight. Children that sit and watch too much television on an everyday basis are more likely to suffer from obesity. Children that sit in front of the television for long periods of time tend to be inactive, and they tend to have snacks while watching television leading to obesity. Children should be getting enough physical activity in order to have healthy lives, and learn healthy habits about exercise. Children learn poor eating habits from commercials targeting special age groups; they don’t understand that commercials are trying to sell a product. Steven Dowshen MD states “Children 6 years and under are unable to distinguish program content from commercials, especially if their favorite character is promoting the product.” (Kidshealth.org, October 2011, how TV affects your child/index.http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html) Being able to instill healthy eating habits into our children is important; making sure they understand that in order to stay healthy they must eat a variety of healthy foods. Providing the knowledge that fast food or junk food although may be tasty, should only be eaten very seldom intervals will create positive eating habits. Lack of physical activity exposure in children can lead to a sedentary adult life, the time that children
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