TORONTO — Sorry kids, but your parents are right – watching too much TV can be bad for you. According to a new study, children who watch more television are also more likely to develop health issues as adults.
"Those who watched the most had a higher risk of metabolic syndrome in adulthood," lead researcher and physician Dr. Bob Hancox explained in a news release. "More childhood television viewing time was also associated with a higher risk of overweight and obesity and lower physical fitness."
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of three or more conditions such as excess body fat, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and abnormal cholesterol levels. Together, they greatly increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.
Hancox is a professor in the preventive and social medicine department at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Using data from a decades-long study, researchers tracked more than 800 children who were born in Dunedin in 1972 and 1973. Television viewing times were reported every two years from ages five to 15, and then again at age 32. Children watched an average of just over two hours of television per weekday.
When participants underwent medical testing at age 45, those who watched about two or more hours of television a day as children were approximately 1.3 times more likely to experience health conditions related to metabolic syndrome as adults. Boys watched slightly more television than girls, while metabolic syndrome was noted in 34 percent of men and 20 percent of women. Researchers can't prove that childhood screen time causes poor health outcomes in adulthood, but Hancox says there are several plausible explanations for the link.
"Television viewing has low energy expenditure and could displace physical activity and reduce sleep quality," Hancox said. "Screen time may also promote higher energy intake, with children consuming more sugar-sweetened beverages and high-fat dietary products with fewer fruit and vegetables. These habits may persist into adulthood."
The study was published Monday in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics and builds on previous research into television habits and health.
Hancox notes that screen times have increased with the advent of streaming services and new technologies like tablets and smartphones. Hancox also found little evidence that watching less television as an adult reduced the health risks from childhood behavior.
"Children today have far more access to screen-based entertainment and spend much more time being sedentary," Hancox said. "It is likely that this will have even more detrimental effects for adult health."
