Studies Link Media to
Modern Ills
By Alan Bavley
Kansas City Star
4/5/06
We
are conducting an
ongoing, uncontrolled
experiment on this
generation in terms of
media exposure and
potential future
behavioral and
physical consequences,
and it seems unopposed
by the media industry
and most parents. **
Donald Shifrin,
American Academy of
Pediatrics
Blame it on the
media.
Last week, the U.S.
Senate took critical
aim at violent video
games. This week, the
medical community is
releasing a stack of
studies linking TV and
video games to a host
of modern ills among
Americas youth,
including obesity,
sexual activity,
consumerism and
antisocial behavior.
Media need to be
recognized as a major
public health issue as
they are among the
most profound
influences on children
in this country,
researchers Dimitri A.
Christakis and
Frederick J. Zimmerman
write in Archives of
Pediatrics and
Adolescent Medicine.
New research is
needed because kids
today are saturated
with media that werent
available 20 years
ago, these experts
say.
So it may be time
to slap a warning
sticker on the family
television.
Researchers this week
called the nations
mass media a public
health issue that
urgently needs to be
addressed. To make
their point, they
released study after
study that links TV
and other media to
obesity, sexual
activity and other
problems among
children. The studies
appear in the journals
Pediatrics and
Archives of Pediatrics
and Adolescent
Medicine.
Media and children:
What researchers found
African-American
children are heavily
exposed to commercials
for junk food.
After-school
programming on Black
Entertainment
Television ran more
advertising for fast
foods, sugary drinks
and snacks than The WB
or the Disney Channel.
* The more TV that
third- and
fourth-graders
watched, the more
frequently they asked
their parents for the
food, beverages and
toys they saw
advertised.
* White 12- to
14-year-olds who had a
heavy diet of sexually
oriented TV, music,
movies and magazines
were more than twice
as likely to have
intercourse when they
reached 14 to 16 as
teens who consumed
less sexy media. The
study in Pediatrics
also found that black
teens were influenced
more by parents
expectations and
friends behavior than
by media.
* Adolescents under
16 who watched TV two
or more hours a day,
and had parents who
strongly disapproved
of sex, were more
likely to initiate
sexual intercourse
within a year. Sexual
initiation was even
more frequent when
their parents didn’t
regulate TV viewing.
* The more time
children ages 6 to 12
spent watching violent
TV programs without
their friends, the
less nontelevision
time they spent with
their friends. But the
more time children
spent watching TV with
friends, the more time
they spent together on
other activities.
* Being awake in a
room with a TV on for
two or more hours a
day raised the risk of
being overweight among
3-year-olds. Tuning
the TV to educational
programming didn’t
lower the risk.
* Male college
students assigned to
play the violent Grand
Theft Auto III video
game had higher blood
pressure, more
negative emotions and
more permissive
attitudes toward
alcohol and marijuana
than students who
played The Simpsons
game.
* The more time
school-age children
spent watching
television, the more
calories they
consumed, largely in
the form of potato
chips, pop, candies,
cookies and other
foods commonly
advertised on TV.
Media facts
* Average time
spent daily using
media by 8- to
18-year-olds: 6 hours,
21 minutes
* Children with TVs
in their rooms: 68
percent
* Children with
computers in their
rooms: 31 percent
* Children living
in households with no
TV rules: 50 percent
* Households where
TV rules are enforced:
1 in 5
Guidelines for
parents
* Do not allow a
childғs room to become
a media center with
TV, video games and
Internet.
* Limit media time
to 1 to 2 hours of
quality programming a
day.
* Discourage TV
viewing by children
under age 2.
* View and discuss
media content with
your child.
* Turn off the TV
during meals and when
no one is watching.
* Be a good media
role model.
Sources: Kaiser
Family Foundation,
American Academy of
Pediatrics |
