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Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence, according to a study released on Tuesday.
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Watching television more than two hours a day early in life can lead to attention problems later in adolescence, according to a study released on Tuesday.
The roughly 40 percent increase in attention problems among heavy TV viewers was observed in both boys and girls.
The link was established by a long-term study of the habits and behaviors of more than 1,000 children born in Dunedin, New Zealand, between April 1972 and March 1973.
The children aged 5 to 11 watched an average of 2.05 hours of weekday television. From age 13 to 15, time spent in front of the tube rose to an average of 3.1 hours a day.
"Those who watched more than two hours, and particularly those who watched more than three hours, of television per day during childhood had above-average symptoms of attention problems in adolescence," Carl Landhuis of the University of Otago in Dunedin wrote in his report, published in the journal Pediatrics.
Young children who watched a lot of television were more likely to continue the habit as they got older, but even if they did not the damage was done, the report said.
"This suggests that the effects of childhood viewing on attention may be long lasting," Landhuis wrote.
Landhuis offered several possible explanations for the association.
One was that the rapid scene changes common to many TV programs may over stimulate the developing brain of a young child, and could make reality seem boring by comparison.
"Hence, children who watch a lot of television may become less tolerant of slower-paced and more mundane tasks, such as school work," he wrote.
It was also possible that TV viewing may supplant other activities that promote concentration, such as reading, games, sports and play, he said.
Previous studies have linked the sedentary habit of TV watching among children to obesity and diabetes, and another study in the same journal cited the poor nutritional content of the overwhelming majority of food products advertised on the top-rated US. children's television shows.
Up to 98 percent of the TV ads promoting food products that were directed at children aged 2 through 11 "were high in either fat, sugar, or sodium," wrote Lisa Powell of the University of Illinois in Chicago.
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據本周二公布的一項研究結果，兒童時期每天看電視超過兩小時會導致青少年時期出現注意力問題。
調查發現，無論男孩女孩，老看電視的人的注意力問題多出約40%。
研究人員對1972年4月至1973年3月在新西蘭達尼丁出生的1000多個孩子的行為習慣進行了一項長期調查，得出了上述結論。
調查發現，孩子在5歲至11歲期間平均每天看電視的時間為2.05個小時。而到了13歲至15歲，每天看電視的時間則增加到了3.1個小時。
達尼丁奧塔哥大學的卡爾?蘭德胡易斯在研究報告中提到：“兒童時期每天看電視超過兩個小時，尤其是超過三個小時的人青少年時期出現的注意力問題超過平均水平。”該研究報告在《兒科》期刊上發表。
隨著年齡的增長，兒童時期老看電視的人很可能會繼續這一習慣，即使他們不再這樣，但影響已經造成了。
蘭德胡易斯在報告中寫道：“這說明兒童時期老看電視會對注意力造成長期影響。”
蘭德胡易斯為這一結論提供了以下幾種可能的解釋：
一是很多電視節目中的快速畫面切換可能會過度刺激孩子們正在發育的大腦，與電視中的畫面相比，現實可能會讓他們覺得沒意思。
他在報告中說：“因此，老看電視的孩子對節奏較慢和較“世俗”的任務，如做家庭作業，可能沒什么耐心。”
還有一種可能是，看電視可能會占用其它有助于培養注意力的活動的時間，如，看書、做游戲、運動及玩耍等。
此前有研究表明，兒童看電視所養成的久坐習慣會導致肥胖或糖尿病，該期刊中的另一項研究指出，美國收視率最高的兒童電視節目中廣告的絕大多數食品營養價值都很低。
芝加哥伊利諾斯州大學的莉莎?鮑威爾在研究報告中說：“多達98%的、針對兩歲至11歲兒童的廣告食品‘要么脂肪含量高、要么糖份多或者含鹽量高’。”
（英語點津姍姍編輯）
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