Study: Consistent Television Watching is the Cause of Aggressive Behavior in Kids

Kids a bit out of control lately? You might want to ask yourself how long you allow them to watch television. A recent study from the Academy of Pediatrics has revealed there is a strong link between television watching and behavior in kids.

A controversial issue throughout history, television has always been suspected to have some effect on people. Some people say watching television for long hours is a risk factor for obesity and diabetes. Others say it signals depression.

But this study is different. It points to kids and says that not only does watching television affect the behavior of a child, but it affects it negatively. Watching television consistently and frequently throughout early childhood was found to cause behavior, sleep, and attention problems.

The study defined "consistent" television watching as more than two hours a day. And the study looked at early childhood years.

The study is called "Children' s Television Exposure and Behavioral and Social Outcomes at 5.5 years: Does Timing of Exposure Matter?" Researchers looked at sustained exposure to television for children aged 2.5 years. Then they studied the same children again at age 5.5 years. 16% of parents said that their children watched television for over two hours daily at age 2.5 years. The study defined 2.5 years as early childhood.

20 % of parents said that their children watched television for more than two hours a day at both ages 2.5 years and 5.5 years. This long-term exposure to television watching was defined as "sustained exposure" by researchers. And it was sustained television exposure that was linked to attention, sleep, and aggressive behavior difficulties. These children were also more likely to show these problems externally.

Many children who started viewing television over 2 hours daily at the age of 2.5 years had fewer social skills, and those children who had televisions in their bedrooms were more likely to have sleep and emotional problems by the time they reached the age of 5.5.