Watching television these days cannot be easily avoided. Its possible that one may argue that educational shows on television helps, it is still a distraction to both kids and adults. The risks of watching television is far more than the benefit
Read through to discover the different ways in which watching a lot of television damages your health.
1. Risk of cardiovascular diseases
Research studies have implied that a person’s risk of suffering from a fatal cardiovascular disease increases by 18 percent for each hour of everyday that they spend in watching TV. Combined with a sedentary lifestyle, watching excessive TV is equivalent to slow poison.
2. Disturbance in sleep patterns
The importance of sleeping well in order to promote good health has been stressed a lot by doctors. Watching too much TV is harmful to sound sleep. Light from the TV set stimulates the brain and reduces the production of melatonin, which promotes sleep. Especially in the evenings, the level of melatonin increases in the body to help it relax for the night.Watching too much TV interrupts this natural balance and consequently, leads to fatigue and irregularities in sleep.
3. Increased risk of having diabetes
Scientific studies conducted by researchers have concluded that the watching of too much TV is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This risk is increased by 14% for every 2 hours (per day) of TV viewing.
4. Higher risk of becoming obese
Both adults and children are likely to become obese by watching too much TV. Sitting for hours on end causes the body’s metabolic rate to slow down. Therefore, more fat is stored in the body.
5. Risk of developing attention deficit disorder
Children are more likely to develop neurological disorders and have trouble while concentrating if they spend so much of their time in watching TV. The fast moving pictures and constantly changing sounds are said to be dangerous for young children.
6. Increased probability of overeating
This is a common and an unhealthy outcome of watching TV. People most times, if not never realize how much food, especially junk food, is consumed while watching TV.
7. Retarded mental development
Scientists have come to the conclusion that watching TV has no benefits for children under the age of 2 years. Children learn much more from direct communication with people rather than watching a screen. Children older than 2 years of age should not watch more than 2 hours of TV per day.
8. Greater strain on the eyes
It is not a secret that too much of television viewing puts stress to your eyes. One should avoid watching TV in a dark room for extended periods of time.
9. Development of aggressive behavior
TV exposes the sensitive and delicate sensibilities of young children to violence; things that they are not prepared for at their young age, thereby changing their behaviour. This manifests itself in a display of unnatural aggressive behavior.
10. Reduced social interaction
Watching TV steals children of good and valuable time that can be spent interacting with their peers around them. This sort of interaction is important to develop social ability that will determine the child’s personality in the years to come. By watching too much TV, the child may also develop different phobias or become emotionally stunted. The inability to express one’s emotions in a healthy manner may lead to feelings of frustration and aggression.
Human bodies are not designed to sit for long periods of time. Therefore, sitting in front of the tv watching, brings a lot of disorders and diseases one cannot imgine. It is not possible to cut out TV viewing time from someone’s life today. Parents should control the amount of time spent watching TV for their sake and the sake of their child’s health.