Childhood Obesity, Smoking, and Sexual Activity Linked to Media Exposure

Derek Markham — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:45:33 +0000

A new study by Yale University School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and California Pacific Medical Center finds that exposure to media damages children’s long-term health.

80% of the studies reviewed link greater exposure to media with negative health effects for kids and adolescents.

Common Sense Media published the report, Media and Child and Adolescent Health: A Systematic Review, which reviewed 173 of the best studies from the last 30 years which examine the connection between media exposure and negative health effects on children.

The average modern child spends nearly 45 hours a week with television, movies, magazines, music, the Internet, cellphones and video games, the study reported. By comparison, children spend 17 hours a week with their parents on average and 30 hours a week in school, the study said.

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Childhood Obesity, Smoking, and Sexual Activity Linked to Media Exposure

A new study by Yale University School of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and California Pacific Medical Center finds that exposure to media damages children’s long-term health.

80% of the studies reviewed link greater exposure to media with negative health effects for kids and adolescents.