Is television affecting your child's health?

By Dr. W. Gifford Jones

William Shakespeare wrote in the play, Hamlet,"We know what we are, but not what we may be." I'd agree that no one can accurately predict the future. But the longer I practice medicine the more I'm convinced that the immortal bard was only partly right. Every week I see patients whose medical future is far from bright due to careless lifestyle habits. Few have to be reminded that smoking, alcoholism or failure to wear a seat belt in an automobile can decrease longevity. But what about children watching television? Might this also be a predictor of future health problems? And can you protect children from "eating amnesia"?

Dr. Kurt Gold and his colleagues at the University of California report that the more your children turn on the TV, the higher their blood cholesterol levels will be. He cautions families that children who spend hours aimlessly gazing at television may have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

Dr. Gold conducted a survey of 1,077 children at a family practice clinic in southern California. Parents were asked to answer questions about their family's medical history, the child's dietary, exercise and TV habits and blood cholesterol levels were measured.

Researchers found that children who watched television at least two hours a day were twice as likely to have cholesterol levels over 200 milligrams than those who reported turning on the tube for less than two hours each day.

Findings were worse for children who watched television four or more hours a day. They were four times more likely to end up with blood cholesterol levels above 200. This is worrying news. The American Academy of Pediatrics claims that in a child over two years of age even a cholesterol level of 175 is sufficiently high to warrant treatment!

These findings should make parents take notice. It's estimated that the average U.S. child views at least three hours of television each day. We also know that as we age cholesterol levels rise. Dr. Gold estimated this means that 50 per cent of these children will have high cholesterol levels later in life.

Brendan Foster, an olympic medalist once remarked that, "The great increase in heart disease among the middle-aged in recent years is perhaps a sign that there is such a thing as too much comfort." In this case, too much comfort in front of the TV screen.

Obviously Dr. Gold doesn't claim that television of itself is the cause of elevated blood cholesterol. Rather, television watching sets the stage for other lifestyle habits. For instance, Gold discovered that children who watched TV two or more hours a day also exercised less and consumed more fatty foods. Television watching, unlike basketball and other sports, does not burn up calories. The result is obesity, and all its long-term consequences. One of which appears to be high cholesterol.

Another reason for the TV-cholesterol link is that children who watch television for long periods witness one advertising commercial after another selling high calorie, high fat foods. One never sees a multinational food processing company praising the merits of fresh fruits, vegetables and green salads on television? Consumer research indicates that children who are bombarded with these ads accept the message and consume more calorie-and-fat-laden snacks.

The majority of people who gain weight do so because they honestly don't realize how much they eat. Children and their parents rarely count the calories of bags of potato chips or peanuts consumed while watching Star Trek or a James Bond movie.

Both children and parents fall into another trap. It may seem efficient to eat and watch television at the same time. But it's not. Weight loss specialists say this habit leads to "eating amnesia". Too much attention is paid to what's happening on television and none to how many calories are being consumed. Their advice? Eat at the table with the television off.

Dr. Gold's research indicates that some children face a dismal future. He found that where there was also a family history of high cholesterol levels and heart attack, nine out of ten children who watched television for two hours a day had levels of cholesterol above 200 milligrams.

An Italian proverb cautions that,"He who would live long must sometimes change his way of living." Good sense dictates that excess T.V watching in youth will affect the condition of the body in later years. One should not need a research study to point out the dangers of inactivity and childhood obesity.

It would be naive to believe it's either possible or wise to stop children from watching Star Trek. But parents should curb excessive TV watching and make snacking difficult. Children should be encouraged to participate in after-school athletic activities that require physical exertion. Such an approach would help to prove Shakespeare wrong.

W. Gifford-Jones M.D is the pen name of Dr. Ken Walker graduate of Harvard. Dr. Walker's website is: Docgiff.com

My book, �90 + How I Got There� can be obtained by sending $19.95 to:

Giff Holdings, 525 Balliol St, Unit # 6,Toronto, Ontario, M4S 1E1

Pre-2008 articles by Gifford Jones

Canada Free Press, CFP Editor Judi McLeod